Educational Alternatives, Volume 11, Part 2

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EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN THE FORMAL SCHOOLING SECTOR-

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATIONMichèle Stears and Angela James

University of KwaZulu-Natal, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to explore how the Grade R (reception year) programme isconceptualised as part of the foundation phase programme offered at one South African HigherEducation Institution. The research attempted to find out what the theoretical underpinnings of theprogramme is and how this programme prepares Grade R student-teachers for effective classroompractice in the South African context.A curriculum framework and interviews provided the necessarydata. The findings show that a combined foundation phase programme does not do justice to the uniquenature of Grade R. Lecturers support a developmental rather than a socio-cultural approach to earlychildhood education, viewing Grade R as preparation for formal schooling rather than a programmethat develops skills and a willingness to learn . Re-curriculation will require a dedicated programmefor Grade R, with a clear focus on the theoretical underpinning of this Grade R programme

Key words: Foundation Phase; Grade R; Developmental approach; Socio-cultural approach; Formaleducation.

1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

In South Africa, early childhood education has undergone considerable changes over the last twodecades. These changes are in line with the policy changes that have characterised education in the post-apartheid era. One such major change was the incorporation of Grade R (reception year) into mainstreamschools. This has implication for teacher education as large numbers of reception year teachers arerequired.

Prior to the transformation of the education system in South Africa, the education of children under sixyears of age was largely the responsibility of non-governmental institutions (NGO’s). During theapartheid years, a number of semi-private pre-primary schools existed that were partly controlled by theDepartment of Education. The junior primary phase (three years) was the first phase of formal schoolingand accommodated children between six and nine years of age. Early childhood education was greatlyaffected by the transformation of the education system. The period spanning birth to nine years is nowreferred to as early childhood development (ECD) and that part of ECD that falls within the formalschooling system is now called the Foundation Phase and consists of four grades- Grade R, one, twoand three. Grade R is the reception year and was traditionally part of the pre-school phase.

A further major change occurred when Colleges of Education were closed and teacher education becamethe responsibility of Higher Education Institutions (HEI’s). This resulted in a reduction of institutionseducating teachers in ECD. Furthermore these HEI’s had to decide whether they would offerprogrammes that spanned the complete ECD period or whether they would only offer programmes forthe Foundation Phase. The University at which this research was conducted implemented a newcurriculum in 2003 which was referred to as the ECD/Foundation Phase programme, meaning that it




included the full spectrum of ECD in the curriculum The intention was that students who completed thisprogramme would be qualified to teach children from birth to nine years of age and could teach at childcare centres, crèches and private pre-schools, as well as in the Foundation Phase at primary schools.Initially, a number of modules were developed for this purpose, but it became clear very early on that itwas not going to be possible to prepare students across the spectrum of ECD. The programme thereforefocused on Grades R to three, incorporating Grade R into the Foundation Phase in line with DoE policy.Students who complete this programme are qualified to teach across all grades of this phase.

2. LITERATURE REVIEWHistorically early childhood education was divided into two distinct and separately functioning systemsi.e. preschool education and junior primary education. White paper five, an Education and Trainingpolicy document (DoE, 2001) introduced the term early childhood development (ECD), thusemphasising the early development of the child as one continuous phase (0-9 years). The rationalebehind this decision was most probably based on evidence from research that supported a moredevelopmentally appropriate approach to the education of children between the ages of birth and nineyears (University of the Witwatersrand Report, 2009). Unfortunately this vision has not been fullyrealised as many educators still view preschool education and formal schooling as two separate entities(University of the Witwatersrand Report, 2009). While policy documents are at pains to emphasise theimportance of early childhood education, there does seems to be a lack of political and educational willto ensure that all of South Africa’s children are given the best possible start on their path of lifelonglearning (Porteus, 2004).

While teacher education programmes should strive to provide programmes that will enable students toteach in any context, cognisance should be taken of the national policies that guide teacher education.In the South African context this challenge is further compounded by the dilemma faced by Grade Rteachers of the way in which the Grade R year is conceptualised. Earlier policy documents such as theInterim Policy for Early Childhood Development (DoE, 1996) is quite contradictory in that it has astrong developmental focus on the one hand and proposes a Grade R methodological approach, but onthe other hand suggests that Grade R programmes follow national curriculum guidelines. The RevisedNational Curriculum Statement (DoE,2003) discusses Grade R as the first year of the Foundation Phase(Biersteker & Dawes 2008) but only through the various learning areas and not as an entity on its ownwith it unique philosophical underpinnings. The current policy document, the National CurriculumStatement for Grades R-12 (2012), is more explicit in its discussion of foundation phase programmes.However, the way both policy documents present Grade R does raise the question of where Grade Ractually fits in.

All these challenges have filtered through to Higher Education as programmes need to be developedthat prepare students to teach within the context of different understandings of where the reception yearfits in. While much research has been conducted with regard to policies guiding early childhoodeducation (Mc Cafferty 2008; Tarner 2005 & Chisholm 2004), the main focus has been on thosefactors that influence the way young children develop (Lynch 2008; Hassink & Kiiver 2007; Conezio& French 2002). In the formal schooling sector those factors that impact on learning, have receivedparticular attention. The expectation is that the designers of early childhood education programmesshould take policy guidelines into consideration, but be guided by research on early childhooddevelopment in the development of their programmes. Unfortunately, it appears that educationalresearch has not had much influence on the field of early childhood education (BERA 2003).




Although a number of factors may impact on children’s cognitive development, research has shownthat quality preschool education that enables cognitive development, is especially beneficial todisadvantaged children (Heckman 2006; Sammons, Sylva, Melhuish, Siraj-Blatchford & Taggart 2004;Schweinhart & Weikart 1997) in that it improves disadvantaged children’s school readiness, educationalachievements, and social adjustment (Melhuish, Sylva, Sammons, Siraj-Blatchford, Taggart, Phan &Malin 2008). In the light of these findings, it becomes clear why the DoE would want to include GradeR in the Foundation Phase, considering South Africa’s large numbers of children from disadvantagedbackgrounds.

A further issue that needs consideration within the sphere of ECD is the usefulness of the currenttheoretical foundations of early childhood education. These foundations are increasingly being calledinto question as the notion of the ‘universal child’ is challenged (Dahlberg, Moss & Pence 1999). Thisbrings the developmental approach under the spotlight because it places all children in discreetdevelopmental stages. On the other hand, the cultural-historical approach takes the child’s socio-culturalenvironment into account. However, the socio-cultural approach has to consider the nature of the teachermore carefully. Recent research has focused on the importance of teachers’ beliefs in the ECD context(Saracho & Spodek 2005). The way a teacher views education in the early years is influenced by thesocio-cultural contexts in which this education takes place (Saracho & Spodek 2005). If the teacher’sview of education is different to that stipulated in policy documents, this could be problematic. Researchpoints to the difficulty in changing teachers beliefs and practices from a developmental to a cultural-historical perspective (Fleer & Richardson 2003; Fleer & Robbins 2007). This raises the question if thecultural-historical approach to ECD education or the developmental approach is the most suitableapproach within the South African context. Both of the above approaches imply that the pedagogy inGrade R should be different to that in Grades one to three.

A third approach that was commonly in use prior to transformation of the education system was anapproach that emphasised the three R’s. (Excell & Linington 2011). It foregrounded pencil and paperactivities and is not regarded as a pedagogically sound approach for pre-grade one learners. While thisapproach is frowned upon by specialists in ECD, by including the Grade R year in the Foundation Phaseit leaves the door open for teachers who are not suitably qualified to teach Grade R to interpret the NCSto mean the third approach.

Unless we find a common vision for what Grade R embodies, we do not have much chance of achievingthe goal of quality Grade R programmes as university ECD programmes should speak to this commongoal. Essentially the choice is between a Grade R programme that prepares children for Grade one or aprogramme that equips children with the necessary skills to develop the confidence and willingness tolearn. While both the developmental and the socio- cultural approaches focus on the latter, Excell andLinington (2011) are of the view that the socio-cultural approach is more appropriate for the SouthAfrican context. This would of course require teachers who are equipped to apply the socio-culturalapproach. University programmes should therefore prepare students to teach in diverse contexts, and beknowledgeable with regard to Grade R pedagogy.

In conclusion then, there is very little clarity as to where Grade R is positioned theoretically in the SouthAfrican ECD landscape. Research points to the need for a Grade R curriculum that is similar to the finalyear pre-school curriculum, but national policy documents and the fact that Grade R is structurally partof the Foundation Phase points to a more formal curriculum. This has implications for the type ofcurricula HEI’s offer for ECD students.




3. THE PURPOSE AND CONTEXT OF THE RESEARCH

The purpose of this research was to explore how the Grade R programme is conceptualised as part ofthe foundation phase programme as offered by one South African HEI. The focus of the research istherefore the Grade R programme. While the research project included participants such as students,lecturers and teachers, this paper reports only on the views of lecturers who teach or have taught on theprogramme with regard to the nature and quality of the Grade R programme.

The critical question that framed the research was: How does a HEI prepare reception year (Grade R)student-teachers for effective classroom practice in the South African context? The data required toanswer the critical question was obtained by formulating a sub question:

How do lecturers who teach on the programme view the programme?

4. METHODOLOGYThe research approach is qualitative as the lecturer interviews were analysed qualitatively, giving thestudy an interpretive slant as we interpreted the data at a particular time, in a particular context. Wesought to understand participant’s actions and practices and to explain them. We analysed the interviewsin order to discover meaning embedded in these texts (de Vos, Strydom, Fouche & Delport 2002). Theresearch design is that of a case study as data were collected from one institution in which we attemptedto gain information about a particular phenomenon (Punch 2009).

4.1. Methods of data collection

The composition of the ECD/FP programme was analysed to obtain insight into the types and numbersof modules offered that were pertinent to this phase. We were especially interested to see if any moduleswere specifically designed for Grade R.. Four lecturers in ECD/FP who are either teaching or havetaught on the programme were interviewed to obtain some insight into their views on the composition,quality and delivery of the programme.

5. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONData obtained were analysed to enable us to answer our research question. The composition of theFoundation Phase Programme, known as the ECD/FP Programme is presented in Table I. Genericmodules taken by all students on the B.Ed programme such as Educational and Professional Studies aswell as electives are not included.

The table shows that all modules, except one, Numeracy in the early years, are common to all grades inthe Foundation Phase programme. Numeracy in the early years was discontinued as it only applied toGrade R and as students in this programme are expected to qualify to teach any grade from Grade R toGrade three. At this institution the programme for ECD/Foundation Phase is therefore an integratedprogramme where all students do the same modules. No programme aimed specifically at preparingteachers to teach Grade R exists.

5.1. Lecturers’ views of the programme

Three of the lecturers have extensive experience of early childhood education and have been lecturingon the foundation phase programme for more many years, although their experience as teachers was inthe former Junior Primary Phase. They also have experience of the types of institutions in the provincethat provide education in the early years. The fourth lecturer has limited experience of ECD pre-Grade




one. Two of the lecturers have taught most of the modules currently on offer, while the third regardsherself as a literacy and life skills specialist, and the fourth as a numeracy specialist. A number of themesemerged from the interviews with the lecturers.

First Year Second Year Third year Fourth Year

1st Semester Numeracy for theFoundation Phase

(Numeracy in the earlyyears)

Reception Year Studies

Language and Literacy

Integrated LearningArea Studies

Life skills

Issues and perspectivesin ECD

Life skills

2nd

Semester

Critical Inquiry inECD

Understanding ChildDevelopment

Language and Literacy

Creative Arts In ECD

CurriculumDevelopment in ECD

Table I: Composition of the reception year programme

5.1.1. The philosophy underpinning the Grade R programme

All the lecturers acknowledge the holistic nature of the programme and the importance of learning in aninformal manner e.g. through play, fantasy, song etc; they are confident that students are well groundedin the knowledge of child development. Nevertheless they distinguish very clearly between Grade R andthe earlier years as they believe Grade R should include a formal approach as well. As it is the policy ofgovernment that all children should attend Grade R, they feel this can only be achieved if Grade R isattached to the primary school. Furthermore, they are of the view that it is good for children to becomeused to the more formal atmosphere of the primary school.

Roxanne: “….should be part of the primary school- getting children ready for formal school. Itshould get them ‘sorted out’ for Grade one”

While there is acknowledgement of the value of preschools that focus only on education for childrenaged three to six, there is the concern that teachers in the majority of preschools are under-qualified withlittle or no experience of curriculum development and have little training in Numeracy, Literacy and theCreative Arts. Furthermore they are not trained to prepare children for formal schooling.

Penny: “ Grade R should be a bridging year-there must be informal and formal programmes”

Penny: “ At this institution it is offered as having both a formal and informal slant”




5.1.2. Integration in the Foundation Phase

Currently the programme is designed to accommodate students who wish to qualify as Grades R to threeteachers- the Foundation Phase. Lecturers all acknowledge the difficulty with this design as Grade Rhas a different philosophy (although their views do not suggest that they view this philosophy as beingas different as research in ECD suggests). Most modules however do include some information on theearly years as background to the Foundation Phase. The modules that are on the university booksthatfocus exclusively on Grade R and below, are not currently on offer. Veronica pointed out thatnumeracy is divided into the four grades and that there is a specific structure for Grade R.

5.1.3. Quality of the modules taught on the programme

Lecturers are of the view that the focus on Grade R has been diluted over the last three to four years.The reason given is that the most experienced staff have left and the new staff (who are mostly contractstaff) have little or no experience of Grade R.

Veronica: “Students are complaining now -they don’t know what do in the Grade R classrooms”

The problem therefore does not lie only with the module content but with the competence of those whoteach the modules. A problem was also identified with the Life Skills programme:

Chanelle: “Modules should be revisited in the restructuring- especially the modules pertainingto Life Skills- there should be more modules with separate focus areas”

Chanelle also believes that there is repetition in the two life skills programmes and suggests that

“Modules ought to be streamlined as well”.

A further problem was raised by Veronica who is a literacy specialist. The language and literacy modulesare common to the ECD/Foundation programme as well as the intermediate phase programme Ittherefore covers a broad spectrum of literacy across all programmes. Veronica complained that she onlyhad four weeks in each module to teach the Grade R to Grade three literacy. This in itself is a problem,because literacy for Grade R is very different to literacy for Grade one. Grade one learners are requiredto learn to read and teachers needs a sound knowledge of phonics to teach reading, while Grade Rlearners are required to recognise letters, but not required to read.

Veronica: “Students complain that the content of Language and literacy is mostly irrelevant-they do too much of what is required at higher grades. Language and Literacy should have theirown FP modules”

5.1.4. The alignment of the institutional programme with the DoE policy documents

While some of the lecturers are of the view that the university Grade R programme should be closelyaligned to the national curriculum (whatever that curriculum may be) there is also the view that thereshould be some alignment but no slavish following of national policies that could change overnight.




Chanelle: “Students should be educated to teach within any curriculum structure”

Those who support a close alignment believe that the teaching focus on the programme should now shiftfrom the RNCS to the Curriculum and Policy Statement (CAPS) document -the most recent policystatement of the National Department of Education. Veronica is of the view that the universityprogramme is not closely aligned to the NCS at all. Very little time is allocated to literacy in Grade R inthe modules as they are currently offered. There is a closer alignment between the NCS and Grades oneto three than with Grade R.

A closer alignment is found in the life skills programme. The programme has life skills modules and theschool curriculum has a life skills programme. However it is acknowledged that the NCS does notprovide any information on how the life skills programme should be structured as the NCS covers GradeR separately under each learning area. Unfortunately the life skills programme does not give sufficienttraining for students in this regard. There is no rationale for teaching life skills in the way it is prescribedeither. This is problematic for students as they are required to teaching six learning areas in an integratedway during 25% of the time. While the CAPS has reorganized the life skills programme that may haveto be considered in the restructuring of the institution’s B.Ed Programme, the rationale for designing itas it did, is still missing.

5.1.5. Grade R in the formal school environment.

Roxanne and Penny hold the view that Grade R has become more structured now that it is part of theformal school environment and because of this, they believe it fits into the Foundation Phase quite well.Chanelle is of the view that it is quite difficult to fit Grade R into the formal schooling environmentbecause of its informal structure, but concedes that it may be better for Grade R to be there. Veronicabelieves that separate pre-schools are the ideal, because her experience of pre-schools in the previousdispensation is that they are equipped, well–run institutions with qualified teachers. However, if GradeR is to be accessible to all children, her view is that it is better to link it to public primary schools.Veronica fears that many principals have a poor understanding of the purpose of Grade R and may forceteachers to enforce a more structured programme.

6. CONCLUSION

This research has highlighted the problems associated with offering an ECD/ Foundation Phaseprogramme of study. The curriculum as offered by this institution does not place sufficient emphasis onthe theoretical underpinnings of Grade R with the result that the fundamental difference between GradeR and Grades one to three are not adequately emphasised. The current curriculum focuses more on theformal aspects of the Foundation Phase and minimally on the informal nature of Grade R. Lecturers areaware of the different theoretical underpinnings of Grade R, but are not overly concerned that this isundermined in a programme where Grade R is offered in combination with the Foundation Phase. Whilethey acknowledge the developmental nature of any ECD programme, their view of Grade R is one of apreparation year for formal schooling and some indication of support for the three R’s approach as well.There is no indication that the lecturers support a socio-cultural approach to Grade R- which couldpossibly be the reason for a student’s comment that the course was not applicable to the African child.




The findings suggest that quality reception year programmes require a particular emphasis which cannotbe provided in a combined programme. However, providing a programme of study to teach in only onegrade of the GET phase may not be feasible. A combined ECD programme where students are preparedto teach children in the reception year and younger appears to be a solution. This may however causeproblems for prospective teachers as the reception year is the responsibility of government, whileschooling for younger children (while the intention has been stated) is not currently administered andfinanced by government. This has implications for bursary allocations as students who are studyingtowards a qualification that is not a requirement of the state, could forfeit bursaries. A possible solutionappears to be one where dedicated modules covering reception year studies are incorporated in theprogramme with staff qualified and experienced in reception year studies and a deep understanding ofthe most appropriate theoretical models to frame the Grade R offering , employed by the institution.

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LEARNING MATERIALS ARE LEARNING SOLUTION

Ion Mierlus Mazilu

Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Civil Engineering

B-ul Lacul Tei, No 122-124, District 2, Bucharest, Romania

Abstract

The low quality of primary and secondary education in most Latin America countries is a well-knownproblem. As a response to this reality, the private educational market has been steadily growing in thosecountries. These private schools, in general, offer a higher quality and personalized education for thestudents that can afford it. The main selling point of these institutions is access to better resources:better teachers, technologies, materials and pedagogical methods. This difference in education qualitycreates a problem once students from public schools reach university.

In this paper we present a project which generates learning solutions (combination of e-learningsoftware, pedagogical methodologies and learning materials) to facilitate the assimilation of newknowledge and the development of new skills even when the student has deficient background knowledgeand/or under-developed required skills. The solutions that this project will provide have the potential tobe used by all students in the Latin American.

Key words: education, learning software, pedagogical methodologies, learning materials

1. INTRODUCTION

The low quality of primary and secondary education in most Latin America countries is a well-knownproblem. As a response to this reality, the private educational market has been steadily growing in thosecountries. These private schools, in general, offer a higher quality and personalized education for thestudents that can afford it. The main selling point of these institutions is access to better resources: betterteachers, technologies, materials and pedagogical methods. This difference in education quality createsa problem once students from public schools reach university. The public schooled students have astrong handicap in their performance in a demanding and fast pace environment where professors aremore concerned with the delivery of knowledge to large audiences than with catering to the specificneeds of each student. This problem is aggravated by the fact that the great majority of public schooledstudents belong to low-income families. All the problems that arise from this social status in LatinAmerica (need to work at an early age, economical difficulties, etc) also conspire to reduce theprobabilities of success of these students. In this light, it is not just understandable, but to be expected,that the private schooled students out-performed their public schooled peers and gain betteropportunities at the labor market.

The unequal primary and secondary education system in Latin America contribute to the inflexibility ofthe social mobility. Students that could afford private primary and secondary education have much betteropportunities to have access to high quality universities and to complete successfully their studies. Onthe other hand, students that due to their socio-economical status only had access to public educationhave, statistically, a lower chance to enter universities and to obtain a professional degree. This has anegative impact on the competitiveness of Latin American countries, as only the middle- and high-




income segments are fully contributing to the pool of specialized workforce while the talent andpotential is uniformly distributed among the whole population. While scholarships and subsidized orfree higher education could help to overcome the economic problems of low-income students, the lackof an adequate primary and secondary education has not been directly addressed in the region. Whileimproving public basic education is the ideal solution to the problem, changing current educationalstructures have proved to be a long-term and difficult project for any country.

The main problem to be addressed during this project is the increased level of difficulty that publicschooled students confront during their university studies, compared with their private schooledcounterparts. This difficulty results in lower performance and a higher level of dropout. The only wayto deal with such great individual differences in the students will be to personalize the learning processfor each student according to their current status and capabilities. A feasible and scalable alternative topersonalize the learning experience of the students is to use learning technologies to create automatedsolutions to follow the students during their learning process, identify areas or skills that they requirebut are lacking, recommend them appropriate content from learning material repositories and guide themtrough learning paths adapted to their individual needs. This project will generate learning solutions(combination of e-learning software, pedagogical methodologies and learning materials) to facilitate theassimilation of new knowledge and the development of new skills even when the student has deficientbackground knowledge and/or under-developed required skills. These learning technologies, initiallydeveloped in Europe, could be adapted to provide several “helpers” or “automated tutors” for eachlearner. Even if not perfect when compared with human tutors, these technologies could helpdisadvantaged students to receive the extra support needed to overcome the gap with their peers.

The solutions that this project will provide have the potential to be used by all students in the LatinAmerican Universities to support their learning process. However, it is expected that the public schooledstudents will be the main beneficiaries from these innovations, as they will enable those students toovercome the disparity in knowledge and skills with privately schooled students. In the context of thevalidation studies, at least 2000 students will be directly or indirectly involved in the different LatinAmerican Universities that partner in this project by participating the pilot courses. If the project provesto generate positive results, this experience will be repeated each academic year and expanded to otherknowledge areas apart from the pilot. The local companies are also final beneficiaries of this project.They can increase their competitiveness with new well-educated graduated professionals as theiremployees. Another final beneficiary group is the Latin American countries, as the know-how increasesin the companies the competitiveness of the countries also increases.

In order to assure the dissemination and exploitation of the solutions proposed in the project, the LatinAmerican Community of Learning Objects (LACLO) will be used as a way to reach other LatinAmerican higher educational institutions beyond the project participants during and especially after theproject. Also, this project is the first collaboration approach between two existing regional networks,Codewitz in Europe and LACLO in Latin America. All the project partners come from these networks.There are several activities such as a joint conference and virtual seminars during the project to createlinks between the members of both networks. All the project results are made technically compatible tobe shared in both networks.

The objective of this project aligns itself with one of the specific objectives of the ALFA III program,namely, to improve the quality, relevance and accessibility of Higher Education in LA, particularly forthe most vulnerable groups. If more low-income students successfully finish their studies despite thedeficiencies in their basic education, the project will have a direct, positive impact in the accessibility




of higher education for a segment of the population (public schooled students) that is usually in adisadvantaged position compared with students that could afford private schools.

This project also supports two of the three ALFA III priorities. First, the adoption of innovative learningtechnologies to solve current pressing issues will help in the modernization of Latin American HEIs.Moreover, these technologies are aimed to the most disadvantaged group of students and will beimplemented in two of the poorest countries in the region. Second, the creation of the solutions willrequire an intense exchange of ideas, learning materials, tools, methodologies and results in a level notseen before in the region in the area of learning technologies. This collaboration will strengthen existingregional networks, such as LACLO, and will create lasting bonds with European networks, such asCodewitz.

The IGUAL Project proposes the use of innovative learning technologies to help university studentsfrom public schools to bridge the knowledge and skill gap with their private schooled counterparts. Thisproject is being developed by the following partners from Europe Union:

§ Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK), Tampere, Finland;

§ Universitatea Tehnica de Constructii Bucuresti (UTCB), Bucharest, Romania;

and also from Latin America:

§ Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes (UAA), Aguascalientes, México;

§ Universidad de los Andes (UNIANDES), Bogotá, Colombia;

§ Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), Guayaquil, Ecuador;

§ Universidade Federal do Pampa (UNIPAMPA), Bagé, Brazil;

§ Universidad Austral de Chile (UACh), Valdivia, Chile.

2. ANALYSIS RESEARCH

2.1. Analysis of State-of-the-Art Solutions for Personalised Learning Support

LA partners, with the help of European partners, explore the state-of-the-art solutions for PersonalizedLearning Support developed and/or used in Europe. The partners collect and report the technologiesused, promising results and good practice. This report will serve as base to select the technologies to beadapted to the Latin American needs and context. Each LA partner will assign at least one researcherto contribute to the report. This activity is conducted in parallel with the Need Analysis. Output will beone state-of-the-art report about European technologies for Personalized Learning Support

2.2. Data collection for Needs Analysis

In order to determine the specific need of personalization that public schooled students have at theUniversity, all LA partners will apply common questionnaires to their students and professors. BothLA and European partners discuss and approve the questions and the form of the final questionnaires.The overall activity is coordinated by the project coordinator. All LA partner will make necessarytranslations of the questionnaires and will apply them to their own students and professors. Each LApartner writes a report about their findings from the results of the conducted Need Analysis. Output willbe a Questionnaire, results and also a Draft Need Analysis Reports




2.3. Need Analysis and Needs Analysis Meeting

To unify the view of all the partners about the need analysis, ESPOL will coordinate the on-linediscussion and the writing for the final report. To conclude the Need Analysis report, all partners willsend a delegate to a meeting and visit to UNIANDES, Colombia. During this meeting the finaldiscussion about the need analysis will take place and an agreement is reached over its content. Duringthis meeting also, the Needs Analysis is contrasted against the State-of-the-Art report to establish thebest European learning technologies to be adapted to address the knowledge and skill gap betweenpublic and private schooled students through the adequate used of automated personalization. Outputwill be Recommended Technologies Report

3. PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

The overall objective of this project is to improve the accessibility of higher education in Latin Americafor students from public schools. There is a measurable gap between the quality of education betweenprivate and public schools in most Latin American countries. This gap has an immediate impact on thelevel of accessibility to higher education for each one of those groups. Students that come from thepublic schools have a lower probability to enter higher education institutions and also an even lowerprobability to finish successfully their studies. While there are several factors that are responsible forthese results (need to work while studying, lower expectations), the knowledge and skill gap betweenprivate- and public-educated students is a key problem that aggravates the others. This project willpropose innovative, contextualized solutions, based on proved learning technologies, to help studentswith a public school background to rapidly close the gap and compensate for handicaps in their basiceducation.

The specific objective of this project is to create and validate innovative and contextualized solutions toreduce the knowledge and skill gap between private- and public-educated students. These solutions willhelp the student to acquire new knowledge and skills, providing individually directed support based onthe particular background and profile of the student. The personalized learning solutions will early detectproblems with the students’ knowledge and skill background, suggest students to review topics that werenot being well covered in their basic studies and to recommend the student with activities to improvethe level of their under-developed skills. Students with the public school background can use these toolsto cope with deficiencies in their previous studies and to be up to par with their peers from privateschools. The effectiveness, efficiency of the different solutions, as well as their positive impact in thestudents from public schools, will be evaluated and validated through their concurrent application andevaluation in all Latin American institutions that partner for this project. The application area will beintroductory computer programming, where the gap between public and private basic education is thewidest due to the limited access to technological resources in public schools.




Fig. 1 http://aprende.igualproject.org/

The Latin American partners tackle the common problem of accessibility of the university studiesconcretely by delivering 6 learning solutions. The solutions put all their emphasis on enabling easierlearning process for those students who have weaker background to catch up with the basic level ofknowledge required in the university studies. These solutions would help to reduce the knowledge andskill gap between public and private schooled students. The solutions to be developed during the projectare:

§ Adaptive Learning Materials, which provides a methodology and tools for the easy creation ofcontent that adapts to the student’s specific needs. For example language, learning style, way toaccess the material, etc. This solution will be coordinated by UNIPAMPA, with the support ofUAA, UNIANDES and TUCEB.

§ Problem Solving Protocols which provides a way to adapt not only the content, but the processneeded to solve a problem, depending of the mental models of each student. This solution willbe coordinated by UAA, with the support of UNIPAMPA, ESPOL and TUCEB

§ Adaptive Learning Design is a solution providing a methodology and tools for the creation oflearning paths and designs in a way that enable the automatic adaptation to the studentsbackground knowledge and skills. This solution will be coordinated by UACH, with the supportof UNIANDES, UNIPAMPA and TAMK.

§ Social Sharing and Recommendation of Learning Materials is a solution for integrating familiarsocial media features into the process of sharing and recommending learning materials. Thissolution serves also as the main valorisation channel as all produced solutions and learning




materials are distributed freely as open source through the platform. This solution will becoordinated by ESPOL, with the support of UACH, UAA and TAMK.

§ The prefix “non” is not a word; it should be joined to the word it modifies, usually without ahyphen.

§ Evolving Adaptive Framework this solution will provide the students an integrated andpersonalized way to access and use the other solutions created in this project. This solution willbe coordinated by UNIANDES, with the support of UACH, ESPOL and TUCEB.

To evaluate the efficacy of the solutions in reducing the gap between public and privately educatedstudents, the solutions will be tested in real environments through pilot courses. Once implemented,these solutions will be integrated in 6 pilot courses (one in each Latin American partner university).

The Introductory Programming course is chosen given that it provides the stronger difference betweenpublic and privately educated students. During the project around 2000 students are estimated toparticipate on the pilot courses in the Latin American partner universities. For the pilot courses and forthe use as part of the learning solution minimum 120 learning materials are made.

The production of materials does not necessarily mean a production of new materials, but all theresources (like university materials, Codewitz Network, etc.) are used to collect needed materials. Themost of the materials needed are expected to exist as freely usable already and only adaptation andtechnical standard work is required.

The solutions and the pilot courses with the materials are published as open source. Those solutions andcourses are available for any university to re-use them through the social sharing platform.

The actions of the project are divided in 5 sequential phases:

A. Setup of the Project

In this phase, the infrastructure and guidelines for the project operation will be set. The technicalinfrastructure, such as a project portal will also be set.

The main objective of this phase is to allow the partners to collaborate in the project activities.

B. Analysis

In this phase, the state-of-the-art and the need analysis will be produced by all the partners.

The objective of this phase is to identify the local problems related with the gap between public andprivate schooled students and the solutions that technology enhanced learning have produce to addresspersonalized education.

C. Design and Implementation of Innovative Learning Solutions

In this phase, 6 independent teams will design and implement the proposed solutions.

The objective of this phase is to contextualized existing solutions to personalize learning. Each one ofthe teams will produce a different solution, but all focused on help public schooled students to reducethe gap with their privately schooled counterparts.

D. Testing, Result Analysis and Quality Assurance of the Solutions through a Pilot Experience inProgramming Courses




In this phase, the infrastructure and guidelines for the project operation will be set. The technicalinfrastructure, such as a project portal will also be set. The main objective of this phase is to allow thepartners to collaborate in the project activities.

E. Dissemination and Technology Transfer

In this phase, the results of the project will be presented and promoted outside the group of originalpartners. The objective of this phase is to disseminate to other universities in Latin America, thosesolutions that have proven to be effective in reducing the knowledge and skill gap between students.

There is also administrative and coordination activities that are transversal to the mentioned phases. Asthe partners work in different learning solution teams with different content for the same overall goalthe main concern is how to get the separate outcomes to be easily connectable with satisfactory quality.This very important characteristic is assured and controlled by the detailed and structured standards andguidelines in the quality plan. The quality plan serves as the core for the project work. It defines themethods for implementation and processes of all the project tasks as well as the methods and deadlinesfor the delivery of the outcomes. The quality plan defines the technical guidelines for the outcomes toassure the outcomes are easily connected and integrated with other outcomes.

4. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the specific solutions of this project are:

A. Design and Implementation of Innovative Learning Solutions

Given that several groups will work in parallel to develop different solutions, a set of technical standardswill be set to ensure the interoperability of the different solutions. The topics to be agreed during thosediscussions are for example learning material metadata standards (Dublin core or LOM etc.), packagingstandards (SCORM or IMS or LAMS etc.) and communication standards (SQI or OAI-PMH etc.). Allpartners participate in the discussion and the task coordinators will publish a final document. The use ofappropriate standards ensures the maximum exploitability of the solutions. All partners will follow theagreed standards that will be included in the quality plan document.

B. Designs and Implementation Plan for the Learning Solutions

Different solutions based on learning technologies will be proposed as ways to reduce the gap betweenprivate and public-schooled students in Latin American Universities. These solutions will exploit theresearch conducted in several areas of learning technologies in Europe and Worldwide. Each solutionwill be designed and implemented by development teams. The first partner in the development teamcoordinates the work. The tentative solutions, pending confirmation by the need analysis, are thefollowing:C. Adaptive Learning Materials

Adaptive Learning Materials, which provides a methodology and tools for the easy creation of contentthat adapts to the student’s specific needs. The development team enables and produces adaptation to100 learning materials.

D. Problem Solving Protocols

Problem Solving Protocols, which provides a way to adapt not only the content, but the process, neededsolve a problem, depending of the mental models of each student. For the pilot courses the developmentteam will produce 40 problem protocols.




E. Adaptive Learning Design

Adaptive Learning Design is a solution providing a methodology and tools for the creation of learningpaths and designs in a way that enable the automatic adaptation to the students background knowledgeand skills. The development team produces accordingly 60 learning designs for the use in the pilotcourses.

F. Social Sharing and Recommendation of Learning Materials

Social Sharing and Recommendation of Learning Materials is a solution for integrating familiar socialmedia features into the process of sharing and recommend learning materials. This solution serves alsoas the main valorization channel as all produced solutions and learning materials are distributed freelyas open source through the platform.

G. Evolving Adaptive Framework

Evolving Adaptive Framework this solution will provide the students an integrated and personalizedway to access and use the other solutions created in this project.

The main precondition and assumption in this project is that the knowledge and skill deficiencies ofpublic schooled students are a major reason for their under-par performance at university and the failurein obtaining professional degrees. If economical or social factors have a much bigger influence in theirperformance, the impact of the solutions proposed in this project would be negligible, However thisassumption is well based given that even students that have public scholarships and have no major familyissues, still present the same type of performance-related problems.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This work was supported by supported by European Union's ALFA programme an initiative ofEuropeAid, IGUAL Project DCI-ALA/19.09.01/10/21526/245-315/ALFAHI (2010)123.

The authors thanks for assistance in the preparation of this paper to IGUAL team.

REFERENCES[1] Camilo Jiménez, Juan Felipe Mosquera, Carlos Vega, Jorge Villalobos, "IGUAL – AnIntelligent Tutoring System for Latin American education", Proceedings of the 1st InternationalWorkshop on Open Technology Transfer and Learning Solutions for Programming Education, 22 May2012, Bucharest, Romania, Editura Conspress, pp.7-17;

[2] Carlos Argelio Arévalo Mercado, Lizeth Iztiguery Solano Romo, "The use of Verbal Protocolsas Learning Materials for Introductory Programming." Proceedings of the 1st International Workshopon Open Technology Transfer and Learning Solutions for Programming Education, 22 May 2012,Bucharest, Romania, Editura Conspress, pp.18-28;

[3] Cristian Cechinel, Sandro da Silva Camargo, "LOAdaptor – A Tool for Describing AdaptiveInformation." Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Open Technology Transfer andLearning Solutions for Programming Education, 22 May 2012, Bucharest, Romania, Editura Conspress,pp.29-42;

[4] Luis A. Álvarez-González, Jorge Morales, Natalia Manríquez, Javier Villarroel, Daniel Ojeda,Camilo Vásquez, "ATLA: Authoring Tool to Learning Activities for the IGUAL Project." Proceedings




of the 1st International Workshop on Open Technology Transfer and Learning Solutions forProgramming Education, 22 May 2012, Bucharest, Romania, Editura Conspress, pp.43-50;

[5] X. Ochoa, Andre Ortega, Gladys Carrillo, Carlos Villavicencio, "Large-Scale storage andretrieval of educational metadata using an RDF Store." Proceedings of the 1st International Workshopon Open Technology Transfer and Learning Solutions for Programming Education, 22 May 2012,Bucharest, Romania, Editura Conspress, pp.60-67;

[6] X. Ochoa, C. Cechinel, C. Jiménez, C. Arévalo, E. Araya, S. da Silva Camargo, C. Camerini,K. Chiluiza, L. Alvarez and J. Morales, “Need Analysis of the Students in Programming Courses inLatin America”, <http://www.igualproject.org>

[7] “The IGUAL initiative: Innovation for Equality in Latin American Universities”<http://www.igualproject.org>




EDUCATIONAL BELIEFS AND TENDENCIES OF THE ROMANI TINKERS

INHABITING THE THRACIAN REGION /ROMA SUBGROUP/Milena Ilieva

Trakia University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Social Activities, Bulgaria

Abstract

This article presents data obtained from theoretical and empirical study on one of the most closedRomani group in Bulgaria – that of the Romani tinkers inhabiting the Thracian region – regarding theireducational beliefs and stereotypes. The article also treats a problem of the present day concerning theschool attendance and prevention of school dropping out of children from the Romani ethnic group andrecommendations for overcoming the negative trends resulting from illiteracy, which also affect modernglobalistic society.

Key words: Roma subgroup, education, integration, problems

There is a huge pile of problems concerning the education of children of Romani origin in pre-schooland school age. These problems have been standing unsolved for many years, they have beenaccumulating one after the other in the course of time but lately these problems have received evengreater impact while the population share of Romani children is growing higher, and their inclusion andkeeping in the educational system becomes a task tremendously hard to achieve.

Considerable expansion of the social horizon and improvement of life perspectives for those children isrequired. This is possible to achieve by means of getting to know each other and participation in jointsocialization activities between Romani and Bulgarian children since earliest childhood age. In thisrespect it is absolutely important to ensure equal access to quality y education for the coming generationliving in the distinct Romani-inhabited neighborhoods, which exist in almost every town or village inBulgaria. (М Илиева 2012г. Съвременни образователни тенденции и предизвикателства впредучилищното образование и ранната детска възраст на ромските деца в България)

After the democratic changes in Bulgaria and especially after the 1999 adoption of the FrameworkProgram for Integration with Equal Rights of Citizens of Romani Origin into Bulgarian Society”(Рамкова програма за интеграция на малцинствата 1999), and further the 2012 adoption of theNational Strategy of the Republic of Bulgaria for Integration of Citizens of Romani Origin (2012-2020),(‘Националната стратегия на Република България за интегриране на ромите 2012-2020г.) actualpossibilities for Romany citizens and their children in Bulgaria were created. Education was outlined asa major priority in view of practical implementation.

The positive results from the implementation of different programs and projects in previous school yearsin the sphere of educational activities, interactions and extracurricular activities indicate the need topromote further the interactive collaboration of all institutions aimed at gaining wider public supportand changing the beliefs, thinking and actions of society. It is a process extending in time and requiringcontinuance and dedication for interactive collaboration. (М Илиева 2012г Образователни тенденциии предизвикателства в предучилищното образование и ранната детска възраст на ромските децав България)




The knowledge acquired at school is not the only knowledge for the person’s lifetime. Children shouldacquire more and more knowledge, therefore their education should be tailored to acquire such a levelof knowledge, skills and interests that could guarantee the furtherance of his/her active, unaided andfruitful learning.

Due to a series of negative circumstances in Romani communities, a major part of the children ofRomani origin do not attend school, their intellectual development lags behind and they remain illiterateor just somewhat literate, which leads to lesser opportunities for realization of their capabilities indifferent spheres of human activity.

This lasting isolation of the citizens of Romani origin and their inadequate involvement in publicactivities leads to lesser possibilities for integration of Romani adults and youngsters in the nationalsociety as a whole. In time, this isolation process gets deeper and deeper and will still more sensitivelyhinder the integrative processes going on in the public relations. (М Илиева 2011)

Children who have grown up in a comparatively closed or isolated Romani community until school agehave communicated with other people predominantly in their mother Romani language. (А Стойков2012)

When such children start to attend school for the first time, they find themselves on unequal footing.They are required to learn new educational matter which is instructed at a language that they do notknow. If they happen to be in class with children fluent in Bulgarian language, usually the Romanichildren lag behind in their academic progress and develop signs of insecurity, lack of self-confidenceand lowered self-esteem. In a majority of cases, this leads to reluctance to study, embitterment to theones who are doing better in school and self-isolation.

The psychological characteristics of modern time Romani people remain unknown not only for the lackof insufficient studies in this direction but also for a number of other factors that need to be taken intoconsideration: language, socioculture, traditions and customs, moral values, goals, etc. The Romanipeople live in two worlds, two cultures, two societies.

The Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria guarantees the right to education for each and everyBulgarian citizen. The fact is, though, that thousands of children in Bulgaria drop out of school eachyear. Different sources state different information. According to data of the Ministry of Education thenumber of dropouts approximates 60 000 children. Civil organizations state that the number of suchchildren exceeds 120 000. Each year thousands of children condemn themselves to life inunemployment, dependence on social welfare, and isolation.

Considering the growing number of children who drop out of school - 18766 in school year 2010/2011according to data of the National Statistical Institute, it is obvious that a long-term sustainable changeincluding beliefs and behavior analysis of different groups within the Romani community seemsimpossible unless preventive measures are taken. (http://www.nsi.bg/)

In order to track the process of school dropping out and to reveal the relevant reasons and also to pointout effective mechanisms for provision of services aimed at school dropping out prevention in thecommunity of Romani tinkers inhabiting the Thracian region, a theoretical and empirical study wasconducted in Stara Zagora Town by asking 50 women to fill out a questionnaire of 30 questions, groupedinto 3 main panels.

Stara Zagora Municipality is situated in the central part of Southern Bulgaria. Stara Zagora Town is amajor administrative and territorial center of the Thracian region. It is the sixth larger town of Bulgaria.Stara Zagora is theCounty and municipal center. Stara Zagora Municipality comprises 51 settlements,




of which one town and 50 villages. As on 01.02.2011 the total population amounts to 126 554inhabitants. (http: //www.starazagora.bg/)

Stara Zagora Municipality is distinguished by a huge ethnic diversity with representatives of nearly allethnic groups – Bulgarians, Romani, Turks, etc. As for the predominant part of the country, in StaraZagora Municipality too, the Romani ethnic group faces most serious integration problems, because ofthe high unemployment rate, poor education and low quality of living conditions. According to localnon-governmental organizations, there is a marked tendency in the municipality concerning thedropping out of children not only from the Romani ethnic community, but also children from the Turkishethnic community. Stara Zagora Town includes one of the largest distinct Romani-inhabitedneighborhoods called „Lozenets”1, whose population exceeds 28 000 inhabitants.

Therefore, a summary analysis of interviews and observations in the community of Romani tinkersinhabiting the Thracian region was made in order to figure out some of the reasons for dropping out ofschool and non attendance of school classes.

The goal of this theoretical and empirical study is to determine the conditions for implementation ofdifferent forms of school activities, to figure out the main reasons for children’s dropping out of schooland to recommend appropriate interventions for solving these problems.

There are several reasons for the conduction of this theoretical and empirical study:

1. there is a closed traveling Romani group;

2. the dropping out of school affects the whole socialization process;

3. there goes a two-stratal stigmatization of the Romani (in the macrosociety and within thecommunity).

There is no exact data about the number of representatives from the group of Romani tinkers inhabitingthe Thracian region, but also about each subgroup of the Romani community as a whole. The dataobtained form the last census in 2011 show that there is a group of people - 53 391 inhabitants, who didnot determine their own status. (http://www.nsi.bg/)

One such closed Romani subgroup is the subgroup of Romani tinkers inhabiting the Thracian region.Presently, this group is mobile. Families would usually settle by 2-3 per village or town with the purposeto ensure for every family „means of living”. Before year 1992 it was usual to see every now and thenrepresentatives of this group walking around residential buildings in towns and village streets offeringtheir services publicly by shouting „tin-plating, tin-plating”. Today, though, this group makes a livingby retail sales of bed linen, clothes or recycling old cast iron radiators (once used for central heating),water heaters and other electric appliances.

It is an interesting fact that usually it is the woman who would negotiate the „deal”. The town of lindentrees, straight streets and poets is also known for the so called „brides market” organized onSt.Theodore’s Day, when the Romani tinkers inhabiting the Thracian region gather together from allover Bulgaria.

Social and demographic structure of the sample

The participants in the questionnaire study comprise Bulgarian citizens of Romani origin from thesubgroup of tinkers inhabiting the Thracian region, women. The total of 50 women was inquired.

1 According to data provided by the non-governmental organization “World without Limits”




In terms of age representation, the sample is very wide and diverse since the youngest participant is an11 years old girl and the eldest one is 64 years old. There is some unevenness in the age distribution ofparticipants because the largest number of questionnaire respondents was aged between 16 and 23 yearsand that makes up 81% of all participants.

The marital status of respondents is also very diverse. Most of the women 46 (92%) live in domesticpartnership with their partners, without official marriage, 12 (6%) of them are officially married and 4women (2%) live on their own, without a partner.

The next demographic criterion is the educational background of participants. They were grouped in thefollowing educational categories – initial 4 years of education, 8 years of (primary) education and 12years (secondary) education. The biggest percentage in the sample is made up of the respondents with4 years of education – that is 35 (70%) of women. 12 (24%) of the participants have completed 8 yearsof education or at least incomplete primary education. The other 7 (14%) of participating women havenever attended school at all. Although women with primary education prevail as a whole in this sample,it is worth noticing that there is a respondent without any education at all - 1 woman (2%).

This gives very serious characteristics, which are indicative of just how vulnerable the women from thegroup of Romani tinkers inhabiting the Thracian region are. When a husband abandons a young woman,she has quite limited and disadvantageous opportunities for her future. Her stigmatization in thecommunity as an „abandoned” woman which is equal to a moral condemnation as an „immoral”, „bad”,„light” woman, the pressure from the family to start another domestic partnership/non-maritalrelationship, the limited possibilities for employment due to her low educational level and the lack ofmaterial resources for raising her child sometimes force young women to seek the alternative ofinstitutional placement.

When the participating women were asked which were the highest risks for dropping out of school 48%of respondents answered that it was the family. It is interesting to note that the willingness for continuingeducation was a priority for as little as 16 women (8%) of the respondents.

If a „collective” portrait of a participant in this questionnaire study should be made, it will look like asfollows: a woman of Romani ethnic origin aged 21 and older, living in domestic partnership with herpartner in a traveling way of life; poorly educated, unskillful and unemployed.

Family planning in Romani families

Due to economic capacities (in particular traditions too play a role) one house in „Lozenets”neighborhood is coinhabited by two or more households. Family structure and hierarchy are strictlydefined. The emphasis of this study is laid on the prevailing educational beliefs and tendencies in oneof the most closed Romani groups.

The major part of interviewed pregnant women has 1 child. The fact that there is still a small percentageof women with more than 4 children – 16 (8%) of the respondents - should not be disregarded.

The most commonly used contraceptive means by Romani families is the interrupted coitus, which wasindicated by 46 (92%) of interviewed women. As little as 4 women (8%) said to be using intrauterinecontraceptive device (IUCD).

An important result of this study is establishing the fact that women of Romani origin are afraid ofhaving IUCD or using other contraceptives. This fact is due to the traditions and the existing myths andbeliefs in their community, which have become inbred in their everyday life. The major opponents forthe use of contraceptives are the figures of the mother-in-law and the husband. Therefore, it must be




assumed that the family planning consultations should actively include „support winning” activitiestargeted especially to the so called „influence center” of the young woman, including the mother-in-law,the husband, the husband’s sister. In the course of conversations with women, they all shared some oftheir fears, which are quoted below:

· “IUCD may get stuck in your lungs”;

· “IUCD causes body hair grow and weight gaining”;

· “IUCD causes sterility”;

· “IUCD is “creeping” inside your body;

· “IUCD will stop your menstruation cycle”;

· “IUCD causes cancer and other diseases”;

· “IUCD is felt by the man during sexual intercourse”;

· “The doctor may harm me”;

· “If you have an IUCD, then you must be going out with “other” men;

· “The doctor may kill the baby”.

For the same reasons major part of pregnant women go to see a gynecologist as late as the 7th month oftheir pregnancy for fear that „the doctor may do something wrong”.

This situation presupposes that people from the entire community should be actively involved in thedesign of programs and policies focused at the above issue. It is necessary and absolutely important forthe Romani community to get involved and participate in all levels of implementation of program andprojects whose target group is the Romani population – from the conceptual phase through theimplementation of each and every objective and activity, to the project management and program andpolicy monitoring. Unfortunately, there are very few examples of consultative vote when decisionsconcerning the community have been made.

It is an alarming fact that 42 (84%) of interviewed women shared to have willingly terminated at leastonce their pregnancy, and 8 women (14%) stated that they have had more than 3 deliberate abortions.They either do not know who their family doctor is or do not have one - 5 (10%) of the respondents.Here it should be pointed out that not everybody who has a family doctor has actually any medicalinsurance.

Decisions about having another child in the family are made by the husband actively aided by themother-in law. This old woman’s opinion is much respected and honored in this community. Theredwells the belief that the use of contraceptives is an indication that the young woman has cheated witha man who is not of Romani origin.

The next group of questions is focused at the most favorable (preferable) age for marriage, for having afirst born child and for building plans for the future.

The best part of the sample - 34 women (68%) would like their children to get married after turning 15years of age, 12 women (24%) stated that they would like their children to get married or start living ina domestic partnership after turning 16 years of age. The remaining 4 women (8%) of the respondentsconsider the age between 18-19 years to be the most favorable.




When analyzing this aspect there could clearly be discerned two types of beliefs. One is the typicalpattern recognized by the macrosociety of early starting a domestic partnership, which has beenadvocated and supported by the older generation of the Romani community. The second pattern startedto gain grounds in recent years and it is actually that to start a family one has to be emotionally andpsychologically stable and of full legal age.

As to the best age for having a first born child 36 women (62%) of the respondents stated „after fulllegal age”, for 10 women (20%) it was the age between 16-18 years and as little as 4 women (8%) saidthat the age of 15 was an appropriate age. The analysis of the answers given to those questions will givethe correlation with the respondents’ educational background.

Educational beliefs of the Romani tinkers inhabiting the Thracian region

The question of whether their school-aged children were regularly attending school was answered asfollows:

· The school-aged children of 43 of interviewed respondents do not attend schoolregularly, which makes up 86%.

· The school-aged children of the remaining 7 interviewed respondents attendschool regularly, which makes up 14%.

The school-aged children who do not attend school help in the family earning a living – crackingwalnuts, picking up chestnuts and doing all kinds of seasonal work or other profitable work performedby their parents.

The question trying to reveal the parents’ system of values and whether they are driven by material orspiritual motives was answered as follows:

The following matters to me the most (more than one answer is possible):

· „money“- answered 48 of interviewed women (96% );

· „nice things“- answered 32 of interviewed women (64% );

· „how peoples relate and treat each other“- 11 of interviewed women (22% ).

None of the answers given by the respondents included books or education.

When asked about the reasons/motives for sending their children to school, therespondents answered as follows:

· „to learn something“- 33 respondents or 86%;

· „because they like it“- 13 respondents or 26%;

· „other“- 4 women or 8%, gave answer that had no direct relevance to thesubject-matter of this study.

A major driving force in the Romani community which is powerful also in any other subgroup anddivisions is the influence of the informal leader of their community. This figure may be different – itcould be the old grandma in the cafe that everybody chats with, or a middle aged man, either a tradesmanor the local pastor who are valuable influential figures. In the community of Romani tinkers inhabitingthe Thracian region, though, it is always the eldest man whose word is honored and respected the most.The Romani tinkers inhabiting the Thracian region do not have the practice of organizing a moral court/meshere/.




There was an opinion that parents would not let their children go to school - „for fear of being stolen bythe girls“, or „because the weather is bad“, „they cannot catch up with the teachers’ requirements” etc.When I continued my conversations with those women informally I asked them what was the connectionbetween mathematics and virginity and they all answered after a several minutes break „there is noconnection but THAT’S THE WAY IT IS IN OUR COMMUNITY“. The process of getting to knoweach other, the rediscovery of Bulgarian culture is the key to interculturality because definitely fear ofthe unknown is present. It is not easy to win the trust of Romani parents when they are not familiar withthe environment and perceive the surrounding as foreign and hostile. Combining elements from differentculture in one lesson and revealing different horizons one after the other will enable us to enlighten thefuture of Romani children.

The opinions expressed by respondents about how they see the perfect future of their children coincidewith the most prevailing ones and do not differ significantly from the majority of expectations.

· „I want my child to have a future”;

· „I want my child to be taken good care of”;

· „I want my child to have a good and well paid job”;

· „I want my child to live independently and have his/her own place to live”;

· „I want my child to be respected”;

· „I want my child to have a good car”;

· I want my child to be hardworking;

· I want my child to be honest, not a liar;

· I want my child to be well educated;

· I want my child to respect his parents and family values.

As the findings of this study showed the main identified problems appeared to be the serious economicdifficulties and bad living conditions; deficit of community-based services in Stara Zagora Municipality;minimal possibilities for children care in the community; limited access to community-based servicesbecause of lack of information or restricted access /due to unpaid social security and medical insurancecontributions, unawareness, etc./; lack of sexual education for the girls; the early age of motherhood;poor preparation for birth giving and parenting.

As a result of this theoretical and empirical study it was established that a child/family is at risk ofdropping out of school due to any of the factors below or to a combination of them:

І.Problems associated with the economic situation:

1. Poverty of many Romani families – parents cannot afford to buy their children the materialsrequired at school, parents are using child labor.

2. Bad living conditions - when living in poverty and one’s everyday needs are far from beingsatisfied, then according to Maslow pyramid it is only normal all efforts to be focused on daily survival.

3. Economic problems of schooling system – bad or completely missing material resources,modern bilingual programs are not implemented, pre-school aged children are not sufficiently includedin the educational program.




ІІ. Problems associated with beliefs dwelling in the Romani community: Education is not viewed as apriority by a very big part of Romani families, few opportunities for educated people to find a suitablejob, want of examples of people prospering thanks to education, early marriage and early motherhood,big families, living in isolated Romani neighborhoods (the ghettos), reluctance of the child to go school,fear of going to another town, fear of „being stolen”, negative attitude to education on the part of theparents themselves and/or the child, because they have dropped out of school because of child birth andmotherhood.

ІІІ. Problems associated with prevailing beliefs:

1. poor motivation of teachers to work with children of Romani origin – most of the teacherswho work in differentiated schools feel like exiled. They lack sufficient training for working withchildren of this minority group. Usually teachers from other schools treat negligently their colleaguesfrom schools of ethnically homogenous students.

2. attitudes of the surrounding to the Romani - in the majority of cases, students whocontinue their education in schools outside their neighborhood are not well accepted from their peersand teachers.

ІV. Problems associated with the educational system and governmental policy: language barrier,incomplete inclusion of preschool-aged children, there are no teachers of Romani origin, unattractivecurriculum, differentiated schools, lack of study rooms, lack of extracurricular activities.

V. Other problems: prostitution, injury or disease in the family/the child or the parents, institutionalizedchildren, lack of parenting skills, new relationship/partnership of the parent caring for the child, thewhole or member of the family leaving for aboard, working at home, conflicts in the family, problematicrelations of the parents (divorce, new partners, alcoholism, battery), lack of parental control and parentalinvolvement;

The above problems were grouped only for ease since they are all caused by a complex of reasons. Themain conclusion to be drawn is that these problems account for the poor educational level of Romanichildren, which in the long run will aggravate the structural unemployment in the community and willmarginize it to such an extent that it will be close to impossible to overcome. Therefore, it is necessaryto conduct a dialogue between all concerned persons in order to arrive at effective solutions for changesin the Bulgarian educational system.

The data collected and presented above definitely show that at this stage the educational system is notorganized in such a way as to take into account the specificity of Romani community. The techniquesfor eliminating deprivation and frustration of Romani children who find themselves in the schoolenvironment with no preparation at all are not yet regulated in the schooling system. Starting schoolwithout knowing the languages, without having learnt the rules, norms and skills for handling everydaysituations outside the family have proven to be stressful for the child and put a barrier between thechild’s desire to socialize with other kids and the requirements posed by the school on equal basis withhis peers who have already been through this process and feel much more comfortably in the schoolenvironment. Getting Romani kids involved since early childhood in intercultural and interactivetechnologies will rouse their interest in the school institution and will raise their self-confidence as ableto handle on his/her own different situations in the everyday and school life and will incite theirwillingness and interest in school attendance and meeting school requirements.

The educational process is a creative activity. This presupposes insight understanding of the diversityof problems that children face regardless of their lifestyle, culture, ethnos and nationality. For Romani




children this process is refracted through sometimes inhuman living conditions of children and adults,cultural confrontation, discrimination, unemployment, complete or partial illiteracy.

The involvement of parents in school life, acquainting teachers with the specific features of Romaniethnos is a good footing for co-education based on intercultural understanding; that on its turn will helpovercome the existing negativism of teachers to the capabilities of Romani students and will be aprerequisite for mutual understanding and tolerance, which is a must for a postindustrial society. Romanichildren need to have a role model and stimuli to look after. And they can have it, indeed. Either bycreating preparatory classes in the schools with Romani students, or by introducing special programs;by creating study rooms for students who are slow to progress with studied matter, and respectively forthe children who are not fluent in Bulgarian language.

As a result of this study the following conclusions may be drawn:

1. It is necessary to synchronize the programs of different institutions and organizationswhich deal with the educational integration of children from minority groups – ministries and agencies,local government authorities, universities, NGOs. The municipal strategies and developmental plansshould be harmonized with the National strategy for integration of the Romani living in Bulgaria. Thisrequires that public electronic media establish a suitable program policy in order to increase publicperceptibility for the problems experienced by minority groups and the intercultural interactions and topromote the cultural pluralism in society. Another cornerstone is the implementation in practice of suchdocuments and ensuring their financing through grants from European programs and projects.

2. Ongoing monitoring and annual assessment of the educational integration byguaranteed involvement of minority group representatives in these processes. In practice, this wouldmean that it will be necessary to involve experts from minority groups who would take part in theplanning and conduction of monitoring in the educational system, by designing togetherrecommendations for improving the quality of education, especially in schools of ethnicallyhomogenous students.

3. Strengthening and supporting the intercultural education by the curriculums. Believingin own’s own strength makes children more cooperative in jointly performed activities both with peersand with adults. The curriculum includes games that are close to the culture of those children which willstimulate their mastering of skills for team work and activity planning.

4. Persistence on the part of teachers to involve the parents of Romani children. Becauseof the serious difficulties experienced in Bulgarian schools and also because of the environment wherethey are growing up, Romani children and their parents quite often lack the patience and the willingnessto put much effort in order to succeed. That is why it is important that the work never stops and toprogress with small but concrete steps by praising each and every success, no matter how small orinsignificant it may be! It is necessary to spend more time and effort for including children as early aspossible in Kindergartens and to study Bulgarian language by gradually including and involving theirparents in school life and by rousing their interest. This could be done by practical application ofintercultural education in the optional elective classes, the class hour and other extracurricular forms.

5. Changes in the educational regulations regarding the completion and passing to highergrades without having mastered the minimum amount of knowledge. This way Romani childrencomplete fifth grade practically illiterate in the majority of cases.

6. Stimulation for active seeking of extracurricular forms and support from the childrenthemselves. The goal is to make children seek help and advice from their parents, to get them involved




instead of being „influenced“by people outside the family. Identification and awareness aboutinnovative intercultural programs for education of Romani children and their inclusion in thecurriculum.

Despite the fact that this theoretical and empirical study is not representative for Bulgaria or Stara ZagoraCounty, still it gives some information about the beliefs, the risk factors and the possibilities fordevelopment of education and prevention oriented services to be provided in Romani community,especially in the larger differentiated Romani neighborhoods.

REFERENCESИлиева, М 2012г. ‘Съвременни образователни тенденции и предизвикателства впредучилищното образование и ранната детска възраст на ромските деца в България’, /ІІ Есененнаучно-образователен форум Съвременни предизвикателства пред учителската професия, СУСв. Кл. Охридски- ДИУУ,

Илиева, М. 2012г ‘Образователни тенденции и предизвикателства в предучилищнотообразование и ранната детска възраст на ромските деца в България’, /сб. Съвременност итрадиции в предучилищното образование, ЧСОУ Делфините

Илиева, М. 2011 ‘Ефективни подходи за насърчаване на ранното детско образование в ромскиобщности’, /сб. Образователни стратегии, иновации и модели, Тракийски университет – ДИПКУ,гр. Стара Загора, ХІІ Национален педагогически форум с международно участие, ISBN 978-954-691-069-1

‘Националната стратегия на Република България за интегриране на ромите 2012-2020г.’

‘Рамкова програма за интеграция на малцинствата’, Раздел V

Стойков, А. 2012 ‘Нерешени проблеми на приобщаващото образование при децата-роми вБългария. ’ /Сборник научни статии от международна научно-практическа конференция наАсоциация на професорите от славянските страни/, Китен

http: //www.starazagora.bg/

http://www.nsi.bg/




PUPILS’ ACTIVITIES AND LEARNING PROCESS EFFECTS

Milena Pejchinovska, Jove D. Talevski

Faculty of Education, Sv. Climent Ohridski, Bitola, Vasko Karangelevski Street, Bitola

Macedonia

Abstract

Pupils’ activities are the essence of the educational process and bound to be the outcome of the teachingcontent and objectives. The success of the teaching objectives realisation depends on the quality,structure, planning, systematization and differentiation of the pupils’ activities. At the same time, thelearning process effects are conditional upon the didactic-methodological features, the quality andsystematization of pupils’ daily activities.

Key words: pupils’ activities, learning, success in teaching

1. INTRODUCTIONThe numerous projects in the Republic of Macedonia realized in the past two decades2 have resulted inimprovement of the programmes in all of the areas of the educational process indicating the verymethods, strategies, and class-teaching forms which point out the significance of active inclusion of thepupils in the teaching-learning process. Despite the innovations in the educational process, the teacher’sdaily practice still contains the problem of operationalization of the objectives generally set in the subjectplan and their optimal realisation with a choice of most adequate didactic-methodological solutions.Thus, the teacher’s task becomes more complex due to the necessity to bring the pupils’ activities intocorrelation with the subject curriculum content and the aims. On the other side, nowadays, thecurriculum content for primary school subjects already offers pupils’ activities and those are oftenapplied by teachers when teaching although they are to be used only as examples which would spurmore creative solutions and not to be regarded as ready-made everlasting samples. So far, the analysesof the course curricula of the first and second cycle of primary education have shown that a large numberof the objectives of the subject curriculum content are designed to develop competences in acquiringknowledge and the utility of the same, which makes the selection of activities fall upon the realisationof those objectives. In order to indicate the essence of this problem, our paper also focuses on theactivities aiming at the development of cognitive competences, emphasizing that - in practice and in thefurther research of the said, a greater attention should be paid to the definement of the activities whichare to influence the affective aspect of personality development. Namely, the complexity of the affectivesphere is the cause for the difficulties when determining the precise objectives and arranging of the sameon the scale of hierarchy according to their complexity, which largely determines the teacher’s selectionof activities for this field.

Therefore, with our paper, we want to give an illustration of the educational practice, from the aspect ofpupil’s activities, more accurately, about their characteristics and their significance. We would also like

2 A list of projects realized in the educational field in the Republic of Macedonia, in the past two decades, see Б.Камчевска. (2006): 52-78.




to indicate the fact that the didactic-methodological solutions in the realization of the teaching objectivesmust be in correlation with the structured pupils’ activities, which will contribute to the improvement ofthe effects in the process of teaching. In that regard, this paper is an attempt to set a base for using theempirical research knowledge to initiate further profound analysis of the complex problems associatedwith the pupils’ activities concerning operationalization, structuring, differentiation, optimal realizationetc. It will necessarily improve the process of learning the subjects of the natural sciences and socialsciences3 in the first and the second cycle of the primary education, as well as it will the process oflearning in all fields in general.

2. THE COMPLEX NATURE OF PUPILS’ ACTIVITIES

In order to be able to successfully grasp the nature of pupils' activities, it is essential that our startingpoint be S. Adamcheska’s stand on teaching activities, according to which they are related both to theteacher’s actions during a class and the pupils’ activities of the cognitive nature performed indoors andoutdoors. In line with this, the activities to be implemented in accordance with the functional andeducational tasks are classified as: pupils’ activities within the framework of educational tasks andpupils’ activities within the framework of functional tasks, which, depending on the field of activity, areclassified as: psychomotor and cognitive activities4. We can define the comprehensive nature ofactivities if we consider the stand of N. Havelka by which it is stated that learning is a set of activitiesthat change the personality of the pupils and that the activities performed with awareness bring aboutpermanent positive changes in pupils’ personalities5. Depending on the objective of the class anddepending on what competences are being developed with pupils, according to some authors, thefollowing types of activities can be distinguished: cognitive, motor, receptive, productive, reproductive,creative etc.

There are numerous pupils' activities that constitute the contents of the teaching. In order to clarify thesubject of this paper research, we present our insight into some of the types of activities, theirclassification, and key features. Namely, on the basis of the analysis conducted, and depending on thepart of the personality development that is to be spurred and developed, we will classify the plannedpupils’ activities as: activities for development of cognitive competences, activities for development ofpsychomotor competences and activities for development of affective competences of pupils. Forinstance, within the cognitive development domain (acquisition, development and application ofknowledge, and cognitive skills), some of the specific activities that spur and stimulate cognitive

3 In our country, the subjects of natural and social sciences in the first and the second cycle of the primary educationencompass contents of various natural and social disciplines, which are pedagogically and psychologicallyelaborated and included in the subjects Introduction to the Environment from the first to the third grade, Nature,Society in the fourth and Natural Sciences and Society in the fifth grade.4 See С. Адамческа. (1996): 59-60.5 See N. Havelka. (2000): 67-68.




development, thinking, and intellectual development6 are: observation, description, comparison,grouping, understanding, analysis, synthesis, application, evaluation etc.7

Pupils’ activities must be planned in advance and correspond with the type of the class to be being given.Teachers decide upon pupils' activities for the introductory, main, and closing part of the class whenpreparing the operational plan based on the determined tasks. In line with this, according to the stagesof the class, class activities are classified into: activities in the introductory part of the class, activitiesin the main part, and activities in the closing one (reflection activities and evaluation activities, such asanalytical diary activities, five-minute writing activities etc.).

Based upon the application of the activities in various class strategies, such as the strategies of teaching,learning, experiencing and expression, exercising, creation etc., we can classify the activities as activitiesof teaching through conversation, dialogue, programmed teaching etc.; learning through research,problem solving, discovering, projects and games etc.; receptive and productive activities; learning thelearning, practical skills, the native language or a foreign one etc.; procedures that encourage differentforms of creation.

The most signifcant features of the pupils’ activities to be pointed out are as follows:

The feature of being specific. Specific activities of pupils means a set of activities that are determinedupon on the basis of the type of the class (depending on whether new knowledge, skills, habits, and othercompetences are being learnt or the ones already learned are being revised and practised), as well as onthe basis of the nature of the tasks and objectives that are to be realized. In this sense, if the teachingsituation indicates that problem elements are predominant, then the specific activities will be of theresearch types of activities in the implementation of the class sequences.

Activities structure. Structure of activities means that each activity has its beginning, progress and end.

Differentiation of activities. Differentiating the activities means determining structured activitiesaccording to individual pupils’ characteristics, as well as learning and development of pupils inaccordance with their individual abilities, affinities and interests. Each pupil of different abilities anddifferent intellectual development progresses at his/her own pace, and the teaching objectives aredetermined according to the average pupils. Any uniformity in the teaching approach based uponaverage pupils practically leads to their success only whereas the cognitive, emotional and other needsof the pupils with under-average achievements in the class, as well as those of the ones with above-average achievements in the class, will be neglected. The differentiation of activities is to produce high-quality learning and success for all of the pupils8.

6 We are led by some authors’ opinions that intelligence is hereditary, but when it comes to intelligent pupils,whose intellectual development is not stimulated and developed, there is a great possibility that their intellectualdevelopment will stagnate and their innate dispositions will remain undeveloped.7 In the professional literature on development and improvement of the cognitive competences, as well as thepsychomotor and affective competences, there are numerous activities, see Адамческа. (1996): 59-69.

8 In practice, where the number of pupils in the classroom is larger than 20, the conditions to differentiate theactivities according to individual pupils’ characteristics are much more difficult. Grading is even more difficult,due to the fact that formation grading of the process of learning is still in its initial phase, and the effective feedbackfrom each pupil, on each activity, under conditions of unclear grading criteria is difficult V. Janusheva, M.Pejchinovska. (2011): Sliven, Volume 19: 71-76.




3. PUPILS’ ACTIVITIES – INDICATORS OF THE EFFECTS OF THE LEARNING PROCESS

The essence of the problem examined in this paper is at the base of the educational process, i.e. the class,in which the process of personality development and education is implemented, and pupils’ personalityis being changed progressively and with awareness. On the basis of the given curricula and teachingplans, the teacher has to select the most appropriate methods and forms of work in accordance with thetime available for optimal teaching and development of pupils. Thus, important questions arise: How todo this? On what basis will they determine the optimal didactic and methodological solutions? How willthey monitor the pupils' achievements and improve the process of learning at the same time enabling anoptimal realization of the objectives? In order to get to the answers, we refer to N. Havelka who pointsout the forms and methods of teaching work which introduce pupils with the realization of activities inall class stages, and the realized activities are those that by themselves are significant developmentaland educational achievements. Therefore, optimal didactic and methodological solution in therealization of the teaching objectives is what ensures that the structure of pupils’ activities correspondswith the program aims9. Or, what we want to be the result of the learning must be given in a certainform from the very beginning of teaching, for instance, if the aim is to develop creative and criticalthinking with pupils, they must be faced with concrete situations through activities that will require fromthem to reach creative solutions and discussion, or with situations that will require from pupils to becritical10. We can call the stated activities specific, because their purpose is to influence the developmentprecisely of the stated specific areas of pupils’ personality.

In that regard, for improvement of the process of learning in the fields of the natural and social sciences,as well as in all fields in general, it is necessary to design certain methodological models guidelines foridentifying teaching situations of determined type and quantity of activities that the pupil has to performin cooperation with the teacher and the other pupils. Thus, the degree of performed real11, structuredpupils’ activities is the criteria to evaluate the efficiency and quality of the process of learning in theteaching process and the indicator of the success/failure in class.

4. METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH

According to its nature, the conducted research, which is a segment of a Master’s research, is active andrealized with the aim to improve pupils’ learning process12 in Introduction to the Environment, Nature

9 See Havelka. (2000): 67.10 Creativity and critical thinking are competences that cannot be developed in just one class or during severalclasses and they are processes and skills relating to progressive development in the affective sphere of individuals.In addition, activities relating to the development of creativity and critical thinking are hard to measure, since theskills themselves are characterized with inexactness. We will not go into a more detailed explanation of thespecifics of the process skills and their measurability in this part.11 Clearly manifested pupils’ activities in the teaching.12 In the wider sense of pedagogy and psychology, learning is a developmental activity which aims at realisationof envisaged personality changes or changes of individuals’ behaviour. See Havelka. (2000): 67. Learning is anindividual process which depends on the developmental characteristics of the individual on his nature, character,interest, attention, motivation, and many other objective and subjective factors. Bearing in mind that cognitivecategories such as memory, understanding, motivation, interest, attention etc., are psychological categories, weshall not go into their further interpretation and analysis for the aims of our paper. The paper focuses only on the




and Society, by introducing models with planned and organized activities for the pupils and the teacher.The time framework of the research covers the period from October 2008 to March 2009. Within thisperiod a survey was conducted encompassing the pupils and teachers, pre-knowledge diagnostic testingof pupils, 12 model classes with systematic observation twice a week, and a final testing of pupils’acquisition of the lessons taught. The examinee sample numbered 315 third-grade and fourth-gradepupils and 35 teachers from 9 primary schools in the urban and rural area of the t. Bitola, Republic ofMacedonia. The examinees sub-sample for the realization of the 12 model classes numbered 160 pupilsand 12 teachers from 5 primary schools in the urban and rural area of the t. Bitola, Republic ofMacedonia. Experimental factors (x) were introduced in the experimental group (E group) and thecommon teaching procedures were applied in the control group (C group). The E group was subjectedto measurements of the dependent variables before, at the time of, and after the experimental factoreffects.

The research procedures and instruments used for collecting data on the examined issue are: a surveyand a questionnaire for examining the pupils and teachers’ stands and opinions about the examinedissue; a systematic observation and an observation protocol applied to obtain data on the efficiency ofpupils’ activities in class; and testing and tests for determining the level of the achievements in the initialphase and in the final phase, after the introduction of the experimental factor. Statistical procedures fordata collecting were: measures of central tendency – arithmetic mean; measures of variability – standarddeviation and coefficient of variability; t-test and х2 – test.

5. ANALYSIS OF THE RESEARCH DATA AND DISCUSSION

Based on the results of the action research and the conducted analysis of the problem related to pupils’activities, it was determined that the pupils in the E group had better results in the tests in the categoriesof understanding and application of concepts from the content they were being taught with the help ofthe introduced methodological models. The curricula contents in the E group were implemented withclearly determined pupils’ activities arising from the objectives and contents of the teaching. In thissense, by proving the hypotheses of the hypothetical frame, a general conclusion has been reached thatthe determination and application of high-quality, structured, specific pupils' activities improve thequality of the acquired knowledge, thus improving the general achievement of pupils in the teachingprocess. The following distinct conclusions has arisen from the confirmed and accepted distincthypotheses:

1. Quality13 systematic and structured pupils’ activities in the observation of a well-selected subject forthis purpose lead to successful discernment of the significant elements of the observed objects,phenomena, and processes, thus resulting in better achievements in the categories of knowledge,understanding, and application of the concepts from the realized contents; 2. If quality, structuredactivities are applied in the teaching, in the research procedures that lead to discernment, comparison,analysis, synthesis and conclusion, the formation of notions and concepts is more effective; 3. The higherthe quality of the structured pupils' activities organized and conducted in the field (direct naturalsurroundings and social environment) when teaching natural and social sciences subjects, the higherthe quality of the acquired knowledge; 4. When quality structured and systematic activities are

real, visible, manifest changes in the learning when pupils are being taught by means of certain quality structuredactivities.13 Carefully selected so that they correspond to the goals and contents of the class and well-organized activities.




undertaken in the observation of visual resources (images, sketches, schemes, and illustrated maps), thenotions are clear and serve as a basis for future generalizations.

The grounds of the above-mentioned conclusions were confirmed with the final evaluation in which thepupils from the E group showed greater achievements in the results of the final tests in the topics TrafficEducation and Features of the Environment and Orientation in it14.

The quantity indices in the statistic processing reflect the above said. Furthermore, the acquired quantityresults of the t-test have shown that the difference is neither accidental nor statistically insignificant.The difference between the two arithmetical means i.e. those of Е and C group final results is - t = 5,16и t = 2,85, with the degree of freedom of - 9 in the first, and degree of freedom of 6 in the second case,(with the significance level of 0,05) and thus statistically significant.

Hence, the arithmetical means of the results obtained from E group is 32,70, and the middle value of theresults of C group is 29,83. The difference between the two arithmetical means i.e. those of Е and Cgroup is 2,87 in favour of Е group.

Table 1. Results from the final examination of the pupils’ achievements on the topic TrafficEducation

E group C group

N 80 80___X 32,70 29,83

SD 3,85 4,16

CSD 11,77% 13,95%

t = 5,16

Table 2. Results from the final examination of the pupils’ achievements on the topic Features of theEnvironment and Orientation in it

E group C group

N 80 80___X 35,04 32,41

SD 4,83 6,62

CSD 13,80% 20,43%

t = 2,85

14 See М. Пејчиновска. (2010): 62-68, Master’s thesis.




Analysis of the data has shown that the achievements quantity difference that this testing has showngoes in favor of E group, which is obvious in the results from the final testing of the knowledge,understanding and application of concepts from the content Traffic Education presented in Table 3.

Table 3. Pupils’ achievements at the final testing on the topic Traffic Education

Number oftasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ___

X

Experimentalgroup 2,07 5,88 2,70 2,63 2,22 2,89 3,48 1,34 6,75 2,74 32,70

Control group 2,08 5,61 2,51 2,37 2,10 2,81 2,80 1,06 6,59 1,90 29,83

Experimentalgroup % 68,89 97,94 90,16 87,62 73,97 96,19 86,90 67,14 96,46 68,57 86,04

Control group% 69,21 93,49 83,81 79,05 69,84 93,65 70,00 52,86 94,15 47,62 78,50

Difference % -0,32 4,44 6,35 8,57 4,13 2,54 16,90 14,29 2,31 20,95 7,54

In the statistic procession of data the quantitive indices have also shown a difference regarding theachievements in the final testing with Е and C group on the topic Features of the Environment andOrientation in it. The average achievements with Е group is 35,04% i.e. 2,63% higher than the averageachievements with C group which is 32,41%. The analysis of the data has shown the E group has hadbetter achievements than the C group in almost every of the tasks given in the final testing, presented inTable 4.

Table 4. Pupils’ achievements at the final testing on the topic Features of the Environment andOrientation in it

Number oftasks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ___

X

Experimental group 7,93 3,66 3,73 5,13 3,43 5,26 5,59 35,04

Control group 7,94 3,43 3,58 3,83 3,40 5,13 5,13 32,41

Experimental group % 99,06 91,56 93,13 85,42 85,63 87,71 93,13 92,20

Control group % 99,22 85,63 89,38 63,75 85,00 85,42 85,42 85,30

Difference % -0,16 5,94 3,75 21,67 0,62 2,29 7,71 6,91

The pupils in E group have also shown higher quality of the achievements acquired in reference withthe categories comprehension and skills, confirmed with the statistic procession of the data in the х2 -test. This is indicator of the effect of the introductory methodological models over the process oflearning as well as the confirmation of the influence of the same over the better quality of the acquirednotions in reference with both topics.




In the final examination we examined the achievements of the pupils from E and C group on the topisTraffic Education and Features of the Environment and Orientation in it regarding the categoriescomprehension and application of the concepts. The analysis of the obtained results from the tasks hasconfirmed both the quality of the acquired achievements and the effect of the introductorymethodological models over the process of learning (tables 5 and 6).

Table 5. x2 – test on the categories of comprehension and application from the topic Traffic Education

Number oftasks C - points Е - points All points

1 218 217 435

5 220 233 453

8 111 141 252

10 200 288 488

Total 749 879 1.628

SS = (r-1)(k-1) = (4-1)(2-1) = 3, x2= 9,495 > 7,815

Table 6. x2 - test on the categories of comprehension and application from the topic Features of theEnvironment and Orientation in it


4 272 274 546

5 286 298 584

6 306 410 716

7 410 447 857

Total 1.274 1.429 2.703

SS = (r-1)(k-1) = (4-1)(2-1) = 3, x2= 8,096 > 7,815

On the other side, the analysis of the research results has shown that the achievements in both groupsregarding the category of knowledge do not depend on the introductory methodological models, whichcan be seen in tables 7 and 8.

Table 7. x2 - test on the category knowledge from the topic Traffic Education

Number oftask C - points Е - points All points

2 589 617 1206

3 264 284 548




4 249 276 525

6 295 303 598

7 294 365 659

9 692 709 1401

Total 2.383 2.554 4.937

SS = (r-1)(k-1) = (6-1)(2-1) = 5, x2= 4,814 < 11,070

Table 8. x2 – test on the category knowledge from the topic Features of the Environment andOrientation in it


1 635 634 1269

2 274 293 567

3 286 298 584

In all 1.195 1.225 2.420

SS = (r-1)(k-1) = (3-1)(2-1) = 2, x2= 0,512 < 5,991

In addition, the analysis of the data from the observation protocols helped to confirm the conclusion onthe efficiency of observation, research in the natural environment, modelling, and creation of illustratedmaps15. These higher results in the finals are due to the precisely determined quality, structured activitiesin the introductory, main, and closing part of the class, the great interdependence of research in thefield16 and the pleasure, interest, and motivation of pupils in the immediate contact with objects,phenomena and processes, as well as to the application of visual and other teaching resources to servefor successful realization of pupils' activities. Furthermore, the data from the observation protocols hasshown that pupils' achievement depends on pupils’ interest, activity and motivation17.

6. CONCLUSIONSThe real pupils’ activities in the closing part of each of the classes, or in the closing part in each separateone of the series of classes, enable the determination of the quality of the educational curricula and therealisation of the set class objectives, at the same time indicating the teaching success/failure. Pupils’

15 See Пејчиновска. (2010): 148-161.16 64% of the total number of examined pupils (315 pupils from nine primary schools from the urban and ruralarea of Bitola) responded that research classes outdoors, in the immediate environment, were interesting, seeПејчиновска. (2010): 150.17 Пејчиновска. (2011). Мотивационата функција на повратната информација во наставата по ЗО,природа, општество и подобрувањето на успехот на учениците. Оценување за учење во 21-от век, Охрид.




activities such as observation, recognition, identification, comparison, note-making, drawing etc., inorganizational research, observation (as a research procedure) and modelling improve pupils’achievements. In the course of the research, the quality, structured and systematic activities in theframework of 12 methodological models and the didactic-methodological solutions which served forthe purpose of a successful realization of pupils’ activities, resulted in improvement of the achievementsin the test problems which required knowledge, understanding, and application of concepts of the lessonsalready taught. It has confirmed the connection between pupils’ activities and the learning process effect,which is only one aspect of the subject of this research or only the starting point for a further profoundresearch of this complex problem from all of the aspects. In that sense, we have the next objectiveimposing itself before us: conduct of comprehensive, quality analysis of curricula of the first and secondcycle of primary nine-year education from the aspect of the given objectives and operationalization ofthe objectives, and the selection of pupils’ activities on that basis; analysis of pupils’ activities that areperformed in our educational practice and finding out whether they are in correlation with the setobjectives and with the contents given in the subject curricula (planning modes, types, organization andrealisation of activities); qualitative data on the type of pupils’ activities performed when teachingsubjects of the natural and social sciences; finding out whether appropriate types of activities are beingperformed to spur the development of certain competences with pupils (cognitive, psychomotor, andaffective) etc.

REFERENCES

Адамческа, С. 1996, Активна настава, Легис, Скопје, pp. 146-181.

De Zan, I. 2005, Metodika nastave prirode i drustva. IV izd., Školska Knjiga, Zagreb.

Dinkele, G. 2004, Geographical enquiries and investigations in Primary geography, Handbook,Geographical association, UK, pp. 95-98.

Janusheva, V., Pejchinovska, M. 2011, Formative Assessment in the Teaching Practice Through thePrism of the Teachers, published in the Proceedings of the International Conference: EducationalTechnologies 2011, Sliven, Vol. 19, pp. 71-76.

Камчевска, Б. 2006, Развој на програми и стратегии за автоиндивидуализација на децата,Скопје, pp. 52-78.

Колонџовски, Б. 2001, Детето - истражувач на природата, Факултет за учители и воспитувачи,Битола.

Пејчиновска, М. 2010, Методика на формирање на географски поими во наставата по ПиО, П,О. Магистерски труд, (Master’s thesis), Педагошки факултет, Битола.

Пејчиновска, М. 2011, Мотивационата функција на повратната информација во наставата поЗО, природа, општество и подобрувањето на успехот на учениците, Национална конференцијасо меѓународно учество: Оценување за учење во 21-от век, Охрид.

Пејчиновска, М. 2012, Учење преку истражување и видови на прашања што иницираатпроблемски ситуации во процесот на формирање на географски поими во наставата позапознавање на околината, природа и општество, Универзитет Св. Климент Охридски,Хоризонти II, Vol. 7, pp. 667-677.

Stefanovich, M. 2001, Didaktika, Express digitalni tisak, Rijeka, pp. 173-183.




Talevski, D. J., Janusheva, V., Pejchinovska, M. 2010, Learning through Research, a Possibility forPermanent Professional Improvement of the Teaching Staff in the Elementary Education, NationalConference with International Participation: Educational Technologies, Sliven, Vol. 17, pp. 251-255

Talevski, D. J., Janusheva, V., Pejchinovska, M. 2011, Teachers’ Development in Relation to Evaluation- Learning Teams as a Possibility for More Effective Assessment Process of Students’ Achievements. InJournal Plus Education/ Educatia Plus, Faculty of Science Education, Psychology and Social Work,Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad. ISSN: 1842-077X, E-ISSN (online) 2068 – 1151, Vol VII, No. 1, pp.44-57.

Havelka, N. 2000, Ucenik i nastavnik u obrazovnom procesu, Zavod za ucbenike i nastavna sredstava,Beograd.




THE QUALIMETRIC APPROACH TO PROJECTING INTERNAL SYSTEM

OF QUALITY ASSURANCEYskak A.Nabi

Academy for pedagogical sciences

85 Karasai batyr Str, Almaty-city, Kazakhstan

Abstract

The has been shown the opportunity of a use of the EFQM model for projecting the internalsystem of quality assurance as satisfying the qualimetric approach.Key words: the qualimetric approach, internal system of quality assurance, the projecting

1. INTRODUCTION

A use of qualimetric approach to the forming of criteria and parameters of estimation of the state ofsystems will give some opportunities to get reliable information of the state of a system in whole, theresults of it’s functioning and etc. Qualimetry as a science of measuring and estimating qualities of anyobjects and processes has got own subject of category “measurement”, “estimation”, “scaling” andconsists of general, special and subject of qualimetry (Е.V.Yakovlev, 2000).

The qualimetry by our understanding (Y.А.Nabi, 2007) is can be restricted by consideration of thecategory “measurement”, since “estimation” and “scaling” relate to other functions of system. Theestimations are an indissoluble element of any system of quality assurance, since in order to manage anyprocess, it needs to able before all to measure it’s parameters. Without quantitative estimations of aquality one cannot manage at studying informational aspects of the problem of the quality of products.And, in the end, the very nature of problems of measurement of quality of products pre- determinatesthe need of use of quantitative methods of the describing a quality.

1. PURPOSE OF ASSESSMENT

Quality Management is the key issue of all higher education systems in the world who are providingmass education. Without forecasting, i.e. without prognosis and evaluation of the expected and desiredoutcomes of educational activities, any research of strategic character is meaningless. The quality ofexecution of any strategy depends on the extend of concretization of the expected results. As the authorsnote (N. Selezneva , A.I.Subetto, 1996), the results can be measured directly, on the actual pedagogicallevel in the form of qualitatively and quantitatively assessed knowledge, skills and creative,philosophical, mental, behavioral features and competencies, which are mastered by people in theprocess of gaining education. However, they underline that the result of education can and should beevaluated also indirectly, on the level of economic, moral, intellectual, scientific, technological, cultural,ecological, democratic, law, mental state and capacity of the society, state and civilization in general.Thus, the quality and result of education are evaluated both at the individual-personal level and alsosocial- government level.




The dissatisfaction is the source of development. This provision needs to be analyzed all the time,sometimes in a radical way despite the current practice. Moreover, the ability to make objective selfevaluation is the essential condition of survival of any educational institution. The competition betweeneducational institutions increases and the most mobile and dynamic ones which are able to respondrapidly to the changing situation, will be able to create favorable conditions. This is the importance ofmethodology of using reflection as one of conditions of intellectual development. Therefore, the qualityof education should be regarded as one of the functions of quality management and distinguish betweenthe possible system of quality assessment (quality management) and system that provides certificationof individual students (N. Selezneva , A.I.Subetto, 1996).

3. TYPES OF ASSESSMENT

The concept of "quality assurance" means a special form of assessment, indicating to the processes andschemes, which are aimed at monitoring, provision, support and improvement of the quality ofeducation.

Higher educational institutions around the world are working together to establish quality assurancesystems of education that meet the requirements of modern society. Ensuring the quality of highereducation requires the development of methods of quality assessing of education and training ofspecialists at the Universities.

Ensuring comparable quality of education through introduction of mutually recognized qualityassessment systems is one of the conditions of uniting of the European countries in regard ofestablishing a unified European educational space. Quality assessment systems existing in the world canbe divided into two models (Y. Pokholkov, 2004).

The first model - "French" is based on external evaluation of the University in terms of its responsibilitytowards the society and the State, through certification, accreditation, inspection. This model is used inNorway, Czech Republic, Latvia, Estonia and other countries where government agencies set aims ofassessment, determine the most important aspects of assessment, take decisions in organizing thetraining process.

The second model of assessment of the system of higher education is "British", which is based oninternal self-evaluation of the University academic community. It operates in the UK, Germany, USA,Latin America.

Within the mentioned context the special attention should be paid to four aspects of educationalactivities which have most effective impact on the quality of higher education:

First, the quality of staff which is guaranteed by high academic qualifications of teachers and researchersof the Universities and the quality of educational programs that is provided by combination of teachingand research activities, their conformity to public demand.

Secondly, the quality of students knowledge when the possibility of competency approach to theidentification of the requirements to the graduates of the Universities and transition to the three-levelmodel of training of specialists based on credit technology has become a reality. It can be achieved onlythrough diversification of educational programs, overcoming of multi-faceted gap between secondary,post-secondary vocational and higher education, increasing the role of mechanisms of training andprofessional orientation and motivation of young people.




Thirdly, the quality of infrastructure and “learning environment” at the Universities which is coveringthe totality of the conditions of their functioning, development, including computer networks andmodern libraries that can be achieved due to the adequate funding.

In fourth, the quality of the activities of the objects of educational process which is providing the qualityassessment as a mechanism of dialogue and self-development.

In the process of designing the system of quality assessment we should take into account all three areasof quality structuring:

- functional, which is associated with the breakdown of the quality into the properties;

- substrate, which is reflecting a breakdown of quality according to the principle of its carriers(carriers of quality: teacher, students, administration, program, text book, level of education, etc.);

operational for the breakdown of quality of processes (totality of operations processes, subprocesses,actions).

The author of the model of human quality (A.I. Subetto. 2000) believe that the quality of highereducation consists of the following:

- quality of training of the graduates of University, who belong to the category "quality of the result ofhigher education";

- quality of State educational standards, quality of the used normative base (regulations and rules),quality of educational programs that determine the quality of goal-setting in the system of State policyin the field of quality of higher education;

- quality of teaching and methodological work and quality of laboratory, logistic and technical base ofhigher education;

- quality of educational technologies (educational technologies);

- quality of academic-teaching and research staff (human resources);

- quality of education content;

- quality of education;

- quality of management (leadership)

the quality of training of University graduates (the quality of training of specialists) acts as a resultingindicator in "quality systems" of the Universities.

Y.Nabi and co-authors propose the following grouping of components of quality education is proposed:

- quality of the resource potential

- quality of specialist

- quality of ATS

- quality of training- professional activities (Y.A. Nabi., Mendigalieva G.K., Tusubekova K.K.,2004)




4. THE APPROACHES TO QUALITY ASSESSMENT

First, quality assessment as a check. In this case, the quality assessment is needed for the evaluation ofthe activities of the institution. The assessment turns into inspection and is based on the aim to findweaknesses. Often such procedures are based on the deliberately high criteria. Model of attestation isexplicitly or implicitly based on these criteria.

Secondly, quality assessment as a mechanism of dialogue and self-development. This is an alternativeapproach in which the major consumers of information on educational outcomes are the directparticipants of the educational process. In this case, the responsibility arises not because of control, butas a consequence of openness and transparency, and procedures of evaluation become a tool of theobjects of educational process. In this approach the methodological work on providing educationalinstitutions and stakeholders of the process with new ways of assessing the education achievements andnew means of dialogue with the community becomes the core system of quality assessment. The obviousadvantage of the second approach is that the process of collecting data on quality of education is at thesame time the process of development of teachers, students and educational institution itself. In thesecircumstances, the approach to the quality assessment is based on the assumption that the academic-teaching staff evaluates the development of their

- professional and personal qualities and organization and also the result of the training process;

- students evaluate learning of key competencies and development of their personal qualities,

- the University evaluates the academic environment and reputation of the University.

As we see, these approaches are based on two kinds of educational philosophy. In first case, highereducation is understood as the sphere of investment of public funds for implementation of governmentpriorities. In second case, higher education is considered, as the service sector, on the one hand and onthe other - as the sphere of free creative action of teachers and student groups. In first case, a tool ofmaintenance of the system is account and control, direct supervision. In second case, such tools are openchannels of communication and professional development.

We believe that to incorporate the requirements of Bologna declaration in the education system of thecountry the education quality assessment principles must be as follows:

- thorough account for the demands of education, society and state;

- conformity of the indices system and European standards;

- manufacturability of used indices;

- validity of used indices (possibility of multiple usage);

- hierarchy of indices system.

In the process of development of science and practice many of the terms which define the idea of qualityassessment are changing, developing and being supplemented and corrected in the light of newrequirements and conditions. Therefore the improvement of quality of education is understood in twoways: as improvement of quality of training specialists with account of individual capacities of thestudents, its correspondence to the real needs of the society, and as improvement of the efficiency oftraining system, i.e. correspondence of the structure of training to the needs of society in qualifiedspecialists. Therefore, there are fixed and assumed needs in educational activities. A variant of the fixedneeds is compulsory State educational standards which establish the minimum level and volume ofcontent of higher education. Assumed requirements reflect the opinions, requirements and expectations,




social order of different professional groups, need of the students in realization of personal intellectualand creative potentials. This makes it necessary to draw public attention to the assessment of quality ofeducation at individual and institutional level.

Education quality assurance systems within the institute of higher education are necessary internalattributes of activity of contemporary institution of higher education that wishes to obtain aninternational recognition of its academic programmes or international accreditation.

In present time the European standards and principles related to the quality assurance in higher educationinstitutions (separately for internal and external systems) are outlined. The standard model consists of7 main elements and recommendation regarding their accomplishment:

- University strategy elaboration and realization related to continuous improvement of the quality.The strategy, programmed and procedures have to have formal status and must be publicly accessible.

- The presence of formal mechanisms of approval, monitoring and regular assessment ofprogrammes.

- Student knowledge assessment in accordance with the criteria, conditions and procedures issuedthat are being consistently applied.

- Presence of system of quality assurance of the professorial and teaching body. case.

- Presence of information and student support resources that are adequate for the purposes oflearning process.

- Presence of information systems that ensure efficient management of learning and otheractivities of the university.

Regular update and publication objective and authentic information regarding the universityprogrammes.

Quality assurance systems should consider:

1) determination of the level of responsibility and duties of all interested institutions and highereducation institutions;

2) assessment of programmes or educational institutions, including internal assessment, externalexpertise, student participation in assessment procedures and publication of its results;

3) presence of comparable systems of accreditation, certification or other similar mechanisms;

4) international partnership, collaboration and participation in international networks.

What is the purpose of quality assessment? Many experts believe that quality assessment is needed forthe managerial bodies to receive timely and reliable information on how the system works, what stepsshould be taken to improve the situation in case of deviations. However, here is a substitution ofpurposes, because the task of ensuring the flow of information upward is a minor task and has meaningonly in the context of the overall objective of quality improvement. The aim of establishing the qualityassessment system is to provide conditions for improving the quality through the increased flows ofinformation on educational outcomes and relative factors.

Feature of the considered approaches is that they don't give a quantitative assessment. As it was notedabove, of problems of measurement of quality of products pre- determinates the need of use ofquantitative methods of the describing a quality.




Qualimetric approach, implemented at projection of system of an assessment of quality of the highereducation, is based on the fact that each component is evaluated in points and their total amount may beequal to a maximum of 1000. Norms of maximal points have been identified by using expert method.The evaluators put the gained points into the evaluation list and identify the assessment on each indicatorand overall assessment. The obtained data are compared with the standard and the coefficient of qualityis determined (Y.A.Nabi , G.K .Mendigalieva, J.A. Karaev, S.O.Komekova, 2005).

The reliable quantitative assessment can be received on the basis of the EFQM model. The EFQM isbeing used for self-assessment and improvement of management systems. The role of EFQM model isto identify areas for improvement, implementation of which increases the competitiveness of theenterprise, therefore the result of implementing this model - is the evaluation of the level of maturityas the degree of approximation to the perfect (ideal) company within the adopted model with a list ofareas for improvement, in which the changes can be implemented. With the help of criteria of the group“Abilities” it is possible to understand how the results are being achieved. In the “Results” group criteriathe main indicators and results of companies activity are united, i.e. what has company achieved withgiven abilities.

Each criterion possesses a points marking scheme. The total sum of all point from all criteria comprises1000 points. The weight of each criterion is established be EFQM experts and other numerous users ofthe model. The weight can be changed with respect to experience gaining and changes in externalenvironment. The “Abilities”and “Results” groups have equivalent maximum number of points of 500each. This is an indication of equal importance potential of the organization as well as how good thispotential is being realized.

5. CONCLUSIONS

The qualimetric approach to projection of internal system of a quality assurance assumes use ofquantitative methods of an assessment of quality. In modern conditions realization of this approach ispossible on the basis of the EFQM model.

REFERENCES

Е.V. Yakovlev. Theory and practice of inter-institutes of education management of education quality:Dissertation on co-research of science level… Drh for pedagogical sciences. – Chelyabinsk, 2000. - 418page. (in Russian)

Y.А. Nabi Principles and criteria of quality assurance of higher educaiton// Vestnik of the Academy ofPedagogical Science of Kazakhstan. – 2007. – № 2–3. (in Russian)

Human and education qualimetry: methodology and practice/ under scientific editorship of N.Selezneva and A.I.Subetto.-M.: Research Center for issues of quality training of specialists, 1996 .- 212pp. (in Russian)

Y. Pokholkov. Assurance and quality assessment of higher education // Higher education in Russia. -2004. - № 2. - S. 12-25. (in Russian)

A.I. Subetto. Issue of quality of higher education in the context of global national issues of socialdevelopment / / Philosophy of education quality.- SPb: Kostroma .- 2000. P.378 . (in Russian)




Y.A. Nabi., Mendigalieva G.K., Tusubekova K.K. and others. Matter typization of indicators andcriteria for evaluating the quality of higher education // Izdenister, natijeler- Search, results, 2004, № 2.P.2 (in Russian)

Y.A.Nabi , G.K .Mendigalieva, J.A. Karaev, S.O.Komekova, Scientific and methodological bases ofdesigning models of quality assessment of higher vocational education / KazINTI, Almaty.,2005. №.reg 0103RK00508 (in Russian)

. "EFQM Model of Excellence - The Road to Excellence"//URL: www.manru.uniyar.ac.ru.




FOREIGN LANGUAGE AS A TOOL OF PROFESSIONAL CONPETENCES

DEVELOPMENTNataliya M. Belenkova

People’s Friendship University of Russia, 117198, Moscow, Russia

Abstract

As a result of studying in Higher Education Institution a student must possess professional competencesthat are focused on in National Educational Standards as well as in the documents of European Council.These competences are usually taught at special subjects. We are sure that this aim can be achieved bymeans of a foreign language. In this connection the role of foreign language learning and teaching isgreat. Some aspects of foreign language learning and teaching for the purpose of professionalcompetence development are presented.

Key words: professional communication, communicative competences, teaching of professional foreignlanguage, ICT application, problem solving, project making, communicative activity, content andlanguage integrated learning.

1. INTRODUCTION

Professional communication as a process of maintenance and development of interpersonal relations ismanifested as a result of the following communicative needs of a specialist:

· realization of a joint professional activity;

· exchange of information, data and research opinions;

· development of mutual understanding and joint strategy of interaction in the professional field.

All factors mentioned above are very important both for a person and for a group of individuals unitedon the basis of their profession. The process of professional communication is realized due to thecommunicative function of the language in different situations of professional communication.Contemporary development of economic, political and cultural communication between nations andpeople speaking different languages and living in various national and cultural environments enhancesthe significance of practical application of foreign languages in spoken and written discourses.

2. FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN VOCATIONAL TRAINING

To master a foreign language is a compulsory component of vocational training in a higher educationalinstitution. The objective of foreign language teaching in a nonlinguistic higher educational institutionis closely connected with the learners’ acquisition of knowledge, abilities and skills as well ascommunicative competences that will make the communication of specialists-to-be sufficient enough.

Recently it was noted that graduates no matter where they studied were unable to problem-solve,communicate through writing and speaking, be engaged in ethical decision-making, work in teams, andinteract effectively with others. All these drawbacks caused many of the curricular innovations and




reforms which reflected three shifts in emphasis: (1) from learning goals that focus on mastery of contentand content coverage, knowledge of disciplinary facts and concepts (what students know) todemonstration of broad competencies (what students can do with what they know);

(2) from learning separate disciplines to integrative learning experiences across the curriculum;

and (3) from changes in subject matter as the primary means to improve learning to innovations ininstructional methods and assessments as integral to curricular reforms, application of constructivistapproach [Higher Education Curriculum…].

Researchers emphasize that the objective of foreign language teaching in nonlinguistic universities is todevelop such communicative skills that will (1) assist specialists-to-be to realize professional interactionand communication in a foreign language in various situations, (2) reflect their interests in the domainof study and future profession, (3) promote their willingness to act as a person that has a well-developedlinguistic competence not only in the native language but in a foreign language as well. The linguisticcompetence should be realized in speech situations of different types, genres and functional styles ofvocational activity in a foreign language [Linguistic Performance and Linguistic Competence].

To achieve the above mentioned objective in a more efficient way, definite conditions should be carriedout. They are (1) didactic, (2) organizational and (3) psychological.

Didactic terms and conditions of communicative competences development include the application ofcontemporary methods, technologies of teaching, as well as projects, debates and problem solving thathelp to imitate social and professional interaction of the specialists-to-be under the circumstances closeto their professional activity.

On the organizational level teaching is focused on the learner’s personality, his cultural and ethnicbackground, trajectories of self-development.

From psychological view the process of learning should be realized in friendly atmosphere.

3. CONTEMPORARY TECHNOLOGIES OF TEACHING

The expanding list of proficiencies commonly identified by universities include: critical thinking andproblem-solving; multiple modes of inquiry in the social sciences, humanities, and arts; communicationskills, including writing, speaking, and listening; technology and information literacy; sensitivity todiversity, including multicultural and intercultural competencies for participation in a pluralisticdemocracy; civic, global, and environmental responsibility and engagement; interpersonal skills,including teamwork and collaboration; self-awareness; moral and ethical reasoning, and integration ofknowledge from diverse sources.

To achieve contemporary goals of teaching and training new pedagogical technologies are applied.Under the term pedagogical technology we imply the combination of goals of teaching, means andassessment of their realization. It also includes the content, forms, principles, approaches and methodsof teaching. While designing a pedagogical technology the focus is made on the process of teaching andlearning, its level, the integrity of all components of teaching and learning process, different aspects ofits guidance. Pedagogical technology is also closely connected with training and personal developmentof a learner. The subject of a pedagogical technology is an interaction between a learner and an instructorin different kinds of activities designed on the basis of structural, systemic and standard ways of teachingand training in a definite educational environment [Darking].




The set of different pedagogical technologies applied can be varied depending on the level of learning,the goals of teaching and the particular features of the learners.

The contemporary pedagogy pays much attention to such technologies as problem solving or as it issometimes called in teaching language “Task-Based learning”, project making, case study,communicative training, ICT.

Problem-solving is the ability to identify and solve problems by applying appropriate skillssystematically. Problem-solving is a process—an ongoing activity in which we take what we know todiscover what we don't know. Problem-solving involves three basic functions: seeking information,generating new knowledge, making decisions.

Problem solving supposes that students can take on some of the responsibility for their own learningand can take personal action to solve problems, resolve conflicts, discuss alternatives, and focus onthinking. It provides students with opportunities to use their newly acquired knowledge in meaningful,real-life activities and assists them in working at higher levels of thinking [Cherry].

Projects Method is considered to appear in 1918 when W. H. Kilpatrick published a paper on ‘TheProject Method’. He mainly focuses on the purposeful activity and problem solving capacity of thestudents based on their needs, interest, attitudes and abilities. He was influenced by the John Dewey’sPragmatism principle [Kilpatrick 1918].

Nowadays some types of projects are distinguished:

Constructive: Practical or physical tasks such as writing an article, making a model.

Aesthetic: playing drama, making musical programs.

Problematic: developing a problem for solving closely connected with the learners’ experiences. It isbased on the cognitive domain.

Individual (when every student solves a problem in their own) and Social (Group) projects.

Simple (when students are completing only one work at a time in one subject or one area only) andComplex (when students carry out more than one work at a time). They are focused on the work invarious subjects. Here the students get the knowledge about the work in different activities anddimensions [Project Based Education].

Project method has become popular in the field of education and so it is examined and studied fromdifferent points of view e.g. principles of project making technology, its advantages and drawbacks.Project method has the following steps: creating situation, selection of the problem, planning, execution,evaluation, reporting and recording. A project can be presented in the form of a power point presentation,an article, a wall newspaper, a video film, a video clip etc. [http://anandkab.blogspot.ru/2011/03/project-method-n1.html?utm_source=BP_recent; http://www.llas.ac.uk/projects].

The case method is a teaching approach that consists of presenting a case by the students, putting themin the role of a decision maker facing a problem [Heath 2006].

All educational technologies and methods mentioned above are widely used in the development ofprofessional and communicative competences of learners at non-linguistic universities.

Communicative training method is also closely connected with teaching a foreign language. TheCommunicative approach emphasizes the ability to communicate the message, instead of concentratingexclusively on grammatical perfection or phonetics [http://www.tjtaylor.net/english/teaching-method-communicative-clt].




This method is considered as a means of impact on a learner to shape and develop his skills, competencesand abilities. Training is a kind of interactive teaching and learning, it reflects the situations of real life.This method implies equal interpersonal relationship, constant feedback, self-assessment and self-realization of the problems, the active participation of learners in the work.

The theory of communicative training is widely used with the theory of social communication, in thedevelopment of professional, social and personal competences [Erton 2007].

Speaking about contemporary technologies we cannot avoid mentioning the application of ICT(Information Communication Technologies). Updated information technologies such as mass media,net, cellar and satellite means of communication are connected with new forms of teaching and learning.Computer games, different sites, social networks can be applied for pedagogical purposes. The issuesof ICT application in teaching language for specific purposes (LSP) were analyzed in our previouspublication [Belenkova 2012b].

4. INTEGRATION OF VOCATIONAL AND LANGUAGE LEARNING

Teaching language for specific purposes (LSP) implies the development of foreign languagecommunicative competences connected with a future profession of a learner, is closely connected withsimulation of professional environment providing tasks which a specialist-to-be can face and shouldsolve while his professional activity after graduating the university.

Professional activity of our learners lies in the domain of law and is quite various. It can include writingletters and other papers, participating in official bodies both in the native language and in a foreign one.While realizing foreign language communication a lawyer should not only deal with law but clarify,give reasons, prove his points of view and persuade his clients and opponents.

Students fulfill all these activities in foreign language sessions in the course of professionalcommunication and translation. As any professional speech activity has a definite purpose it implies aconscious selection of means and ways to achieve the objective of learning both in in the native languageand in a language studied. So learners apply professional knowledge that they get while studying othersubjects connected with their profession and consequently content and language integrated learning(CLIL) approach is fulfilled.

Traditionally this approach implies that a subject from the core curriculum is taught by means of aforeign language. In People’s Friendship University of Russia (PFUR) learners at a bachelor’s level ofeducation apply foreign language to get new information connected with their profession from differentsources either paper or internet. They participate in international conferences in foreign languages, takepart in international language and professional Olympiads and submit final research papers in foreignlanguages. Some of the learners have traineeship as interpreters from Russian into English and back.

At a master’s level there are some English-taught Master's programs where English is a language ofinstruction. At Law faculty of PFUR learners can select of the following programs:

· International protection of human rights

· Legal translation and interpreting (MLTI)

· Translator and Interpreter for Public Services and Institutions

· Post-Graduate LL.M. International Private Law.




Two of these programs are realized in the department of foreign languages. Learners study suchtheoretical and practical courses as Theory of Legal Translation, Legal Documents Translation (1 stlanguage), Legal English Practice Course, Translation Practice Course, Forensic Linguistics,Comparative Linguistics, Quantitate Linguistics and ICT, Intercultural Communication, Discourse andArgumentation, Editing and Proofreading, Pedagogy and Psychology of Higher Education, Translator’sEthics etc. The program includes lectures, face-to-face studies and learners’ self-studies.

When learners develop their skills of professional speech activity they should take into accountobjectives and terms of communication, communicative appropriateness of the utterance that determinethe selection of required vocabulary and grammar structures.

According to educational standards a graduate of a higher educational institution in the domain of lawshould have the following professional characteristics of a lawyer, namely: always act in accordancewith law; know and respect legislation its regulations and statutes; manage his professional activity,supervise and evaluate its outcomes, be aware of the importance of regular professional self-development; be ready to get new information; respect moral values and opinions of other people;

be responsible and hardworking; decisive and reserved. These are the elements which the componentsof communicative competences consist of and which are completely essential for the graduates of highereducational institutions [Belenkova 2012b].

To develop characteristics mentioned above learners should be involved in the continuous process ofvocational training on all subjects studied including sessions of foreign language. Higher level ofcompetences development can be achieved applying all contemporary technologies of learning in unity,namely: task based learning, communicative training assignments, realization of different projects andcase-study method in a foreign language.

The emphasis is made on transfer of theoretical knowledge acquired while studying subjects of thelearners’ future profession into the area of the practical solution of the task, and afterwards the transferof the knowledge from one situation into another; afterward further transfer of data from the particularsituation into a generalized pattern. Simultaneously learners develop their ability to think like a lawyer,apply professional concepts under the circumstances of practical environment.

Foreign language teaching in a non-linguistic higher educational institution cannot succeed without theapplication of contemporary ICT. Internet can be considered as an important source of informationconnected with the learners’ future profession. The following sites might be of great interest for thelawyers-to-be: http://www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk/en/legalhelp/faq.jsp#Education;(http://legalproverbs.blogspot.com/; http//www.famous-quotations.com/asp/aquotes.asp?alpha=L&curpage=2);http://ask.reference.com/related/Famous+Lawyers+in+History?o=15096&l=dir;http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presid; http://www.theinjurylawyers.co.uk/injury-lawyers-blog/2008/06/29/top-10-famous-lawyers/ents [E-learning ].

Simulation of the situations close to the professional communication implies that the means and waysof problem solving are selected by learners according to their professional interests and motives,personal characteristics and abilities. So the interrelation of the information studied and the learners’personal experience appears. That implies that studying some particular topic from the core curriculumlearners realize the course and stages of work.

As it is mentioned above communicative training assignments are focused on the situations of real life.So when we speak about the application of this technology in the practice of teaching English as




language for specific purposes the assignments are closely connected with the situations which lawyers-to-be can face in their professional career. These situations are acted out and simulated by the learnersin a foreign language and the professional and foreign language communicative competences aredeveloped simultaneously. Some examples of foreign language communicative training for lawyers-to-be are (1) “You are a lawyer. What can you advise to a newly married couple that has lost the luggage(or to “a traveler who is disappointed by the hotel service” etc)?”; (2) “Agree or disagree with one ofthe statements about law and lawyers (these statements are searched by the learners or by aninstructor).For example: “Modesty forbids what the law does not”. (by Seneca); “Loving kindness isgreater than laws”. (the Talmud); “Lawyers know life practically” (Samuel Johnson) (3) “Make a “snowball story” on an accident “A bus with some passengers was on its way. When it passed a tunneleverybody saw …”. “A beautiful lady visited a Community Legal Advice Centre and asked for help…”.Other communicative training assignments for layers-to-be including episodes for role playing andacting out can be found in the tutorial “Talking Like a Lawyer” [Беленкова 2012].

Different projects in a foreign language studied can also be used as tasks for professional problemsolving. As examples of such projects the following kinds of work can be used: making presentationson some professional topic in a foreign language, compiling tests on the topics studied, participation inconferences. Foreign Languages Department of Law Faculty in Peoples’ Friendship University ofRussia holds two annual students’ conferences “WE SPEAK LEGAL ENGLISH, GERMAN, FRENCH,SPANISH, CHINESE” the latest was held on 23-d of November 2012 and " Language. Culture.Translation" which was held in May 2013. Usually the students of 2-4 academic years participate in theconferences, they are attended by students of Moscow higher educational institutions, students fromother cities of Russia and Kazakhstan. At the end of the conferences all participants get proceedings ofthe conference.

Studying and acting out different cases (“case-studies’), creating remakes of novels and films on thetopics connected with the future profession of the learners are also very useful for developing bothprofessional and foreign language communicative competences. Cases can be taken from special sitese.g.http://www.cba.org/cba/practicelink/bwl/anxiety.aspx;http://juniorlawyers.lawsociety.org.uk/node/124,http://www.dol.govt.nz/er/bestpractice/worklife/casestudies/lawyers-dilemma.asp,https://www.lexisnexis.com/law-firm-marketing/case-studies/ etc. or books [Stake 1995, Yin R.K.2002]. The choice of cases for studying and consideration depends on the level of learners’ foreignlanguage communicative competences and their professional knowledge of the subject but even at thebeginning of professional education some situations from everyday life can be used as a case forstudying [Buckley, Okrent 2009]:

“Assume the following actual cases were actually assigned to you for investigation. You perform thepreliminary interview of each of the named plaintiffs. Be sure to consider each of the facts of the case,as well as all the potential defendants.

1. Ms. Smith was admitted to the hospital through the emergency room with severe pain to theabdomen. After the operation by Dr. Brown an infected appendix was discovered and removed. Ms.Smith was released four days later. She continued to have increasingly severe pain and was readmittedto the hospital three weeks later. The same surgeon performed another operative procedure andrecovered a surgical sponge left in her during the initial operation and removed it.

2. Josh Tyler was walking up the hill on State Street when a car without driver comes rolling outof a private parking, down the street and pins him against the office building, breaking his left leg. An




ambulance was called by a store employee who sees the accident happen. Josh is taken to the nearesthospital. He later learns that the car recently had been serviced by Ben’s Auto Repair”.

All assignments connected with problem solving can later serve as the basis for screen adaptationsfilmed by learners. They make video films or video clips that can also be used while studying LSP forlistening and understanding, for debates and interpretations of the project’s results, for learning termsand notions. Novels and stories by Dreiser T. (“An American Tragedy”), Rose R. (“Twelve AngryMen”), Christie A. and other English speaking writers can be used for remakes and video projectscreated by learners. Sometimes they think out and invent the plot of the video themselves taking theinformation from mass media or internet resources.

All stages of making video films starting with the preliminary work on the level of drafting andpreparation to filming and application of the video in practice of learning and teaching English as LSPwere presented and described at the conference in Florence, Italy [Belenkova 2012a].

As the process of problem solving with the application of contemporary educational technologies occursin a foreign language we can say that the development of both professional competences and foreignlanguage communicative competences, as well as the integration of professional knowledge and foreignlanguage communicative skills occur.

To succeed in objective of foreign language teaching in a nonlinguistic higher educational institutionlearners should have similar level of communicative competences development, psychologicalcompatibility; they should also have common interest to the topic studied. An instructor is no longer asupervisor but an assistant and moderator.

When task based learning, project work, case study or communicative training assignments are realizeda learner becomes not an object of teaching but an active participant of the vocational training process.

5. CONCLUSION

The application of various innovative technologies of foreign language teaching promotes theprofessional competencies and the foreign language communicative competences of the highereducation institution graduates.

The application of traditional pedagogical and educational methods and techniques and contemporarytechnologies in teaching develop both a communicative approach to teaching and different componentsof communicative competences. Up-to-date technological devices can help to form a personaleducational environment of a student and serve as a means of assessment and self-assessment of thelevel of competences developed.

Contemporary technologies assist to develop learners’ creativity and enhance their motivation.

Professional competences of the lawyers-to-be and the foreign language communicative competencesare simultaneously developed in the frames of content and language integrated learning (CLIL)approach.




REFERENCES

Беленкова, НМ 2012, Talking Like a Lawyer, Учебно-методическое пособие, М., Тезаурус.

Belenkova, N 2012a, Amateur Video-Films as Means of Learning English as LSP, ConferenceProceedings. International Conference ICT for Language Learning. 5th Conference Edition Florence,Italy 15-16 November 2012., libreriauniversita-ria.it edizioni, pp. 359-362.

Belenkova, N 2012b, E-learning and Teaching English as a Foreign Language at University, Journalof International Scientific Publications: Educational Alternatives, Vol. 10, part 2, pp. 42-49,

http://www.scientific-publications.net/download/educational-alternatives-2012-2.pdf

Buckley, WR & Okrent CJ 2009, Torts and Personal Injury Law, Delmar Cengage Learning.

Cherry, K, Problem-Solving Strategies and Obstacles,

http://psychology.about.com/od/cognitivepsychology/a/problem-solving.htm

Darking, M, Research in Progress. Integrating Pedagogical Technologies into UK Higher Education,http://is2.lse.ac.uk/asp/aspecis/20020094.pdf

Erton, I 2007, Applied Pragmatics and Competence Relations in Language Learning and Teaching,Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, Vol.3, No.1., pp. 59-71.

Heath, J 2006, Teaching and writing case studies. A practical guide: 3rd edition. ECCH.

Higher Education Curriculum 1990, National Reports On The Undergraduate Curriculum, TraditionalAnd Contemporary Perspectives - INNOVATIONS IN THE UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM

http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1896/Curriculum-Higher-Education.html#ixzz2R1w02uCj

Kilpatrick, WH 1918, The project method. The Use of the Purposeful Act in the Educative Process,Teachers College Record, no 19, pp. 319-335.

Linguistic Performance and Linguistic Competence, 2011, http://www.speech-therapy-information-and-resources.com/linguistic-performance-and-linguistic-competence.html

Project Based Education, 2009, http://www.motivation-tools.com/youth/project_education.html

Stake, RE 1995 The Art of Case Study Research, Sage Publications.

Yin, RK 2002, Case Study Research, SAGE Publications, Inc; 3rd edition.




GROUP WORK WITH STUDENTS THROUGH MENTOR -

FUNDAMENTAL DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTIFIC TEACHING STAFFNaumovski Ljupcho

Faculty of low, Vice dean, University Sv. Kliment Ohridski – Bitola, Macedonia

Abstract

In this paper are actualized the function and the importance of mentoring as educational category,generally in the preparation of the teaching staff in particular. Types of mentoring have been performedin the initial professional cycle in the development of the teaching staff and the subjects occurring inthe mentor function - the mentors.

Shaping of theory and practice of the group work in the organization of educational work, thesociological moment is a basic line.

Key words: group work, mentor, education, mentoring, educational practice.

INTRODUCTION

The term group work appears in the pedagogical-methodological terminology in the late 19th century.Immediately after 1900s, the group work moves upward in the way of training of the future scientificteaching staff. American schools have tried to establish integration between education and life, throughphilosophy, psychology and pedagogy, and the mentoring in educational practice strengthened thescientific-teaching practice. Have been known more of its manifestation forms:

· Assistance in independent work of pupils and students;

· Guiding the development of individual papers (Bachelor's, Master's and

· Doctoral Papers);

· Internship of new workers (working introduction);

· Hesitations and pedagogical practice in the training of teachers;

· realization of definite Practicum (Workshops).

However, is absent: theoretical treatment of this problem and formal performance of mentoring function,just there where it is set as a norm. And you must know that setting of mentoring as a norm is just aconfirmation of its necessity. However, the absence of the theoretical treatment of this problem leads toa different understanding of the term mentor and mentoring. Thus, in the practice, the term mentoringcan be found related meanings, such as the following in Webster's Dictionary:

Sponsor - someone who takes personal responsibility for another one; patron; financial sponsor of aparticular event.

Tutor - private (personal) teacher; lowest teacher profession;

senior student with responsibility to help the younger ones.




Coach - private (personal) tutor; coach in athletics.

Mentor - Mentor - a friend of Odysseus and tutor of his son;

Mentor - an experienced and trusted friend and advisor..

The absence of a theoretical treatment and empirical research on this phenomenon leads to it, at least inour country, the institution mentor and preparation for its performance hardly mentioned. These twobasic phenomena were the reason for the treatment of mentoring in this paper: for a start, only a modesttheoretical approach to develop a model for preparation of mentors as a reference frame which wouldserve for the future empirical valorizations and theoretical generalizations.

Mentoring, as a process of guiding the individual in the way of his independence, as many other valuablepedagogical categories, its roots, not only etymologically, but as well as a practice.

John Dewey in its experimental education used the group work through modifying the personalexperience, fully development of individual skills, gaining experience in mutual cooperation, fight inopinion and building of social relations in the mutual relationship and based on the division of work inthe group to solve the tasks, so the results of the work to be checked in working together.

Vashburn Vinetka - plan accepted the group work and emphasized the value for formation of habits forsocial life and for development of social forces. The idea of teaching socialization and application of thegroup form of work is also developing in the "work school" in Germany.

In theory and practice shaping of the group work an importance role has Peter Petersen known for itsJena-plan and in the organization of school work, where basis is the sociological moment. The work inthe school is based on group work, in which children work freely and completely independently.Particularly is emphasized the educational value of the group work, which is the basic form for adoptionof knowledge.

According to August Vitak, the group work is a collective clever work of the whole class divided intogroups, and V. Lustenberger - under the term group work understands all forms of school activities,which stimulate the memorizing, exercising and repetition, as well as the mutual cooperation of students,which takes place in an atmosphere of the greatest opportunities of freedom2.

According to Ernest Mayer, the group work is a social form of work. It is work in a small social circle,in which based on the mutual connection of individual members, each individual determines andmanages towards a common goal, but also towards the other members of the community.

German specialist in didactics Karl Shteker gives the broadest and most comprehensive definition of thegroup work in the teaching: group form of teaching is such a thing within the educational entirety whichputs into work individual groups of presenters as real carriers of the educational process, and enablesthe educational entirety use the results of the work of all participants1.

In above definition for group work are included several elements:

- The group work enables the independent activity of the presenters separately, but also grou activity ofpresenters in adoption of educational content;

- Provides the most favorable sociological and psychological frameworks for establishing of

interpersonal relations in the teaching process;

- Put participants in a situation of real social life and allows regular and full development of

the social behavior of the young people.




Therefore, the group work is a form of organization of teaching work in which the student collective forsome time is divided into small groups, which under the most favorable psychological and sociologicalconditions independently work on adoption, repetition, determination, exercising and applying of theeducational content. Moreover, the members of each educational group develop and improve theirabilities for independent work, develop and improve the forms of social behavior, and thus are preparedfor life and work in larger communities in the further life and are trained for self-education.

The course of work in the group teaching process is significantly different from the usual system ofteaching process. The didactic articulation is significantly different from that in the frontal teaching. Itlacks certain elements such as for example: lack of professor lecturing (assistant), the teaching processdoes not keep on impression of the teaching educational content, but apply different types of expression.Does not change the image (appearance) in the area of educational group, as well as in sense of allocationof foreign presenters, so well in terms of the relationship among Professor, Assistant and the Studentsand among the students themselves. Articulation of the process of work per the group system is fardifferent in some authors. For example, the author Firth devised the group teaching work as follows:

a) The first stage is division of the task which includes in itself:

- Planning,

- Motivation for group work,

- Division of the working groups, and

- Providing guidelines.

This stage of Firth is a preparation for group work. Through it are made efforts theeducational unit to perceive the problem with which will be engaged; to become a clear pathper which will solve the problem and properly execute the supply of the most necessarymeans for presentation and for its solution.

b) The second stage is performance of work in the groups;

c) The third stage is arrangements of the work results (submission of results, examination of

the results and discussion about them).

Another author is the German Professor August Vitak and according to him the group work ischaracterized by two stages:

1. Act of request, exploration and production, which take place only in groups of 3 students /pupils;

2. Act reporting, testing, checking and discussion that takes place in educational whole. There is aconcrete explanation:

a) act of request is a requirement of new examples,

b) act of research is coming to new knowledge,

c) act of production is the creation of separate creations.

However, despite these two stages, August Vitak recommended that the work of the Professor(Assistant) to comply with certain requirements, and they are:

- To determine a topic or problem common in educational group, possibly to divide in more specialtasks:




- Counseling in all groups - all of them to argue for received tasks' as for their meaning, as well as forthe manner of their solving;

- Consideration of the educational group into discussion circle (in the form of a horseshoe); and

- The group's report, then discussion in regard to the report, and finally recording the final result.

From these few requirements, it is clear that August Vitak assumed certain moments that serve aspreparation for the group teaching work. Therefore, we can emphasize that the didactic articulation ofwork for the group teaching process consists of several certain elements.

The organization of the group work in the teaching process could be analyzed into three elementarystages:

1. preparation of the group work,

2. work performance in groups and

3. integration of the results obtained by the group work.

In which way is derived the preparatory or introductory phase, greatly depends the performance of thegroup teaching work and the joint final work. The preparation performs frontally in more cases, i.e. forthe whole educational group together. It is necessary for all present participants to get a general reviewand orientation in the task - the problem that will be processed in a group. Regarding the preparation orintroduction of students we can give them some basic knowledge required in equal measure for allgroups. In further procedure, the problem parses or analyzes in numerous narrower issues, integral parts,components or tasks, which will be decided independently by the groups.

In this way, should be considered the basic stages, through which should be solved some tasks. Withsuch common division of the educational potential, we psychologically orient them to group work. Afterreviewing the problem, professor (assistant) pre-formed groups are assigned specific tasks. However,students are not yet ready to join, because the lack of ignorance of the ways and means of work. Afterconsideration of the problem as a whole, the Professor (Assistant) of the pre-formed groups assignsspecific tasks. However, the Students are not yet ready to join, because they lack of ignorance of theways and means of work. After assigning of the individual tasks, the Professor (Assistant), according tothe nature and type of the tasks, gives specific instructions, i.e. work orders for the technical work, theuse of educational means and the way of result recording of the work.

In the beginning of the work, when the students are introduced in the group teaching process, theguidelines should be expressed in details and should be verbal, while later on, they become morecomplex and may be issued in writing. One guideline for solving any task should include severalelements. Thus, for example, written instructions may generally contain the following information:

§ the title of the task which should be performed (to examine, solve, check experiment,practice and etc.),

§ the use of teaching means,

§ teaching aids (literature),

§ material collection independently

§ monitoring and observation of phenomena,

§ result reporting in order to be informed,




§ problem solving and alike.

However, is recommended the requirement how the students can submit a report, whether orally or inwriting, by way of a video presentation, etc.

Correctly formulated written assignments may per the nature of the topic and the need, to provide thestudents one or several days earlier to think over it, to gather material, to show interest previously aboutit, to inquire, to settle their foreknowledge and in advance to enrich their mind with new content foreasier perception. So, in the preparatory or introductory phase it is necessary to make the work schedule,the work division with all necessary instructions for proper understanding of the theme and techniqueof work.

After common general guidelines, follows work. After carrying out of the preparatory work, followsindependent group work.

At the beginning, each group approaches towards realization of the assigned tasks. At first, the groupstudies the task and makes internal division of the work and its organization. In particular, it depends onthe nature of the task. The head of the group looks after each member of the group to have a specifictask, to do something. It should be paid a special attention it does not turn into a sitting, but in workingtogether. In a joint work should make arrangements, consult, advise and comment on specific points.During the work, the students make notes, make concept about that what they read, independently usethe sources of knowledge, quietly agree, often leave the desk, take, carry, etc..

Finally, the discipline should not only understand that to be silent. In such working conditions to forbidthe conversation is illusory. First of all, you should previously regulate the intensity of the conversationand be reduced to acceptable measure, it not to turn into a general noise and over shouting. Theconversation may be of such intensity that the students can mutually understand.

Certain conflicts may occur in the groups which often manifest quarrels, beatings, taking away anddestruction of work equipment and reporting the teacher. All such things should be removed timely bythe help of appropriate educational measures.

During the presentation, the students/pupils make notes, graphical reporting things. The registrationprocedure may be different, and with the way of making notes they should be specifically practiced,because for them is very difficult. It is a particular problem as they practice, i.e. to make notes. The noteshelp them in the transfer results in the whole educational year. In the adequate concrete situation, theProfessor (Assistant) is monitoring the groups, controls the work, assists, advises, encourages, givesadditional instructions, makes remarks, so that in his hands he has control over the entire work. Inaddition, the students in a case of need address to the Professor (Assistant).

The group in its work must be constantly oriented to presentation / reporting, discussion of the topic,and the moment of responsibility before the academic group and the Professor (Assistant) is apsychological incentive for more intensive work. After completed task, the group members understandit as a whole and are preparing to submit a notification. However, is best every member of the group toparticipate in submission of the notification. Thus, for example, if a student makes an explanation ingeneral, the second one makes attempts and etc. Usually is practiced the groups not to determine whichgroup will submit a notification, but they want each student can be called by the Professor (Assistant)in order to submit a notification. This way ensures each member to know the results.

The third stage of the group teaching work is the most characteristic because they submit assessmentresults. This is again done by working together of all present. The overall work, its meaning gets at thisstage, where the groups submit notification for its work and summarize and evaluate the results of the




work of individual groups in a whole. The German specialist in didactics Ernest Meyer in this stage seesa higher purpose of the group work:

"For example, what the student explored in the group work, it must be transferred to his colleagues in aform of teaching. It is not an exaggeration if we establish that the double activity of the student - researchand teaching - the learning process has risen on much higher level"1).

However, the group work shows its result just in the third stage, when the presenters-speakers are placedin the role of teachers, reporters, with which the student gets a new element. Thus, the research by thestudents integrates with their teaching and the learning becomes very valuable.

In summarizing and assessing the results of the working groups may precede the notification of theleader / manager of the group. During the work, the management of the Professor (Assistant) had controland advisory nature, and at this stage, the teacher took the immediate role. The Professor with his issuesand requirements (explanation, demonstration and stating examples) unites the partial assignments in awhole. The success of this stage and the entire work process depends on the Professor (Assistant) andhis skill in organizing of the integration, as well as the ability of the students to make their worksavailable for others, i.e. someone else works to understand and assess, and connect them as a whole. Allparticipants took participation in the integration. But the Professor (Assistant) must not be impatient, heshould let to educational participants to expose freely, the groups to discuss mutually, while he is limitedonly on appropriate incentives, directing and skillfully makes sense of the discussion course. The stageof synthesizing casts light and shadow, praise and criticism of the work in the separate groups.

The forms of synthesizing can be different. The leader / manager of the group, or some other memberare reporting for the work and the result of its work.

The report of the group work can be accompanied by writing some data to the blackboard, with a table,demonstration, experiment, a quote from a book etc. The other members of his group accompanies thenotification, therefore, it is necessary all members of the group to be prepared for the report.

The Professor (Assistant) may in the course of the notification to interrupt the presenter, if it is necessaryfor correction, and at the same time can help. It is especially important, after the presentation for easierunderstanding, to give a brief summary. It is necessary especially when the students did not succeed.After the presentation, the submitter gets additional questions, which usually requires a detailedexplanation, argumentation of certain suppositions with examples, supplementing of the report etc.Moreover, questions ask also the Professor (Assistant). Based on the report and asking questions isdeveloping a free conversation about the problem itself, for the work of the groups and the manner ofreporting of achieved results. It is a difficult stage for the Professor (Assistant), because he has to takecare and all students to cause conversation, discussion, opposition regarding the topic, the opinions tobe accurately explained, the allegations sufficiently to be argued, not to turn it from the basic problem,the conversation and the critics to have a cultural tone with youthful temperament. Those moments inteaching are of great importance, as have had very little until presently.

We can conclude for the organization of the group teaching process that the educational unit receives atask, the groups work independently on it and for the results again is reported the educational unit. It isthe true sense of the group work in the teaching process. However, these stages should not be seen asrigid schemes, through which has to pass each teaching unit. But, it also depends on the degree ofpractice of all interested, from the professor itself and teaching educational content. These stages shouldnot be seen as separate structural parts of a class, so that their duration shall not be included within aclass of 45 minutes. Mainly, this extends across multiple classes, and often a week and more. Moreover,presentation of previous elements must not be identified with the structural parts of the class.




CONCLUSION

Detailed structuring of didactic articulation of the work process in the group teaching process allows usto introduce with the positive aspects of the concrete manifestation and realization of: pedagogical,psychological and sociological values.The successful application of the group teaching process providesproper attitude in the learning, the play, the work together and in the recreation. In the group form withjoint working on some problem is developing the working collaboration among the students. It has agreat educational significance; through it, we develop a sense of constructive, collective work, mutualsolidarity and understanding in the working community, the feelings for cooperation are developing,and in this way, is dispelled the confinement, isolation, individualism and etc. Upon the intellectual,educational and moral plan, the group work form has several advantages relating to other teaching formsfor work, and that we learn it through the following pedagogical dimensions:

- Developing of work habits for work in the group;

- Successful fostering and developing of the critical and creative thinking;

- Equalizing the pace of learning or helping to the students who fall behind;

- Practicing to bargain for cooperation and joint work;

- Rational use of available time of the class in all educational areas and subjects;

- Developing the conscious student activity, altogether with personal and group

responsibility and Intrinsic motivation;

- Development of democratic components in teaching process;

- Training for evaluation of individual and group achievements;

- Development of human sexual relationships in teaching process and greater freedom of the

present individuals in all stages of the teaching process, democratic atmosphere in the

educational work;

- Successful training of the students for independent work and independent adoption of

knowledge;

- Awakening and developing of interests for more durable and responsible adoption of the

prescribed educational teaching content.

In parallel with the pedagogical values, also are significant the psychological values for applying of thegroup work form. Numerous theoretical and practical experiences show that most of the present studentsare admired by the group work. All life is in a community, so that is quite normal that the adults andyoung people seek to be in groups. The group is a natural form of communication of the people. In thegroup work, the human moods are joyful, enthusiastic, cheerful and affectionate. They jointly share thesuccess and failure. The Success strongly motivates the participants in the group to achieve greaterresults. Its quite normal for the young people to live and work in groups, when particularly aremanifested the attempts for socialization and work in larger communities.

The work in the groups helps in creating a favorable working atmosphere and emotional balance. Thework in groups brings vitality, dynamics, constant exchange of knowledge, experiences, moods, the




communications are frequent, various, the students feel more freedom in work and learning. Certainparticipants more successfully adapt to the smaller groups than to larger collective.

Important are the following psychological values:

- Mutual coexistence;

- Group solidarity (mutual assistance);

- Training the students to listen to the others in the group;

- More quickly adaptation of teaching situations;

- Fostering the skills for understanding and acceptance of other people's views and attitudes;

- Development of mutual tolerance;

- More successfully development of the capabilities in the field of speech cultural expression;

- Adapting and successful development of the overall thinking activities and etc.

The educational participants in the groups deepen the acquaintance and friendship, and in thesame time create new and permanent relationships. The individual in the group is protected and canbroadly demonstrate his physical and intellectual abilities. Bringing presenters together and workingunder common conditions have large and pedagogical-psychological and sociological values.

There are numerous reasons, which in the modern education, affect upon the student sociability,and among them are the following social values:

- Fostering and developing of the friendship and its relationships in younger and largergroups

of presenters from different age group;

- Raising awareness through joint work may achieve greater working effects;

- Continuous and organized creation of their own opinions, views, interests, beliefs,ambitions,

better getting acquainted own personality and identity and etc.

Finally, it should be understood that the group form of work enables each individual to achievemaximum results in its work.

REFERENCES

Пољак В. (1980). Дидактика, Школска књига, Загреб.

Шмит.В., (1972). Високошколска дидактика, Педагошко - књижевни збор, Загреб.

Продановиќ, Т., Ничковиќ, Р., (1974), Дидактика, Завод за уџебнике и наставна средства,Београд.

Пољак В.,(1956). Групниот облик на наставна работа,Просветно дело, Скопје.

Лустербегер, В., (1959): Школски рад по групама, Београд.

Аугуст, В., (1960), Основни проблеми групног рада, Библиотека, настава и учење, Београд,




MODERNIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS IN NANOTECHNOLOGY

(EXPERIENCE OF KAZAKH NATIONAL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY)Nelya A. Shamelkhanova, Ulbala A. Murzahmetova, Alma M. Uskenbayeva

Kazakh National Technical University named after K.I. Satpayev,

22, Satpayev street, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Abstract

Accumulated scientific potential of the universities may become as the basis of modernization ofeducational programs to be formed for training of specialists in science intensive sectors. Orientationof education on results and achievements of domestic science schools after due consideration of worldexperience and initiatives, taken by the State, allowed to substantiate the modernization of educationalprograms in nanotechnology at Kazakh National Technical University. Scientific support of upgradingis focused on main purpose of the training – to organize and raise training level for high qualifiedspecialists in nanotechnology. Using of updated, science-oriented educational programs, which areconnected with real innovative projects, is essential for achieving nanotechnology training goals.Modernization of educational programs gives new professional opportunities for future specialists,which will engage in research and developments in nanotechnology.

Key words: Educational programs, nanomaterials and nanotechnology, areas for research anddevelopment, modular and competence-based technologies of training, disciplines and modules.

1. INTRODUCTIONNanotechnology is considered as one of the priority directions of science in Kazakhstan that ensuresdiversification of the economy and sustainable development of the country. Scientific advances inrelevant area of knowledge and technology may contribute to further reorientation of Kazakhstan’seconomy on innovative development and withdrawal from a raw orientation. The development of high-tech industries is aimed on providing of technological breakthrough and high competitiveness of ourstate. In this connection there is an urgent need for training of competitive, high qualified specialistswith a grasp of long-term trends of the industry, which are able to engage in large-scale research, towork in high-tech, solve new challenges of science and production.

A prospect for the development of nanotechnology is largely determined by the quality of training inthis area, so, educational research, particularly, connected with updating of corresponding educationalprograms is very topical.

“It is necessary to get rid of outdated or unclaimed scientific and educational disciplines andsimultaneously strengthen needed and promising directions” – said our head of state in its annualpolitical message to the people of Kazakhstan (Nursultan Nazarbayev, 2012).




2. KAZAKHSTAN’S SYSTEM OF POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION

Educational activity in Kazakhstan is regulated by the State mandatory standards of education (SMSE),which are preparing in accordance with the list of specialties included in Classifier of specialties forhigh and postgraduate education of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The definitions of key notions used in education are given in SMSE, such as the following:

“specialty - is a definite set of knowledge, skills and abilities needed for certain professional activity,obtained through purposeful training and experience and supported by relevant documents”;

“educational programs - is a combination of knowledge, skills and abilities in a specific area that arefocused on the usage by the students of certain specialty”.

Educational programs are realized on the basis of SMSE, which define the requirements for the structureand content. They include curriculum, study complexes of disciplines, practice programs(educational/professional) and individual program of research. Theoretical training by basic and profiledisciplines, the practice, research work (including dissertation) and attestation are implementedfollowing the structure of educational programs. The cycle of basic disciplines consists of compulsoryand elective components. All profile disciplines relate to elective part (component) of the program.

The list of disciplines of compulsory component is determined in accordance with the specialty oftraining. Appropriate minimal educational credits for disciplines of compulsory component are given inSMSE by the specialty. Training by the disciplines of compulsory component is realized with the helpof standard programs approved by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan(MES RK). These disciplines are invariant with respect to others, which are universal, because intendedfor use by all institutions having license to train in this area.

The list of elective disciplines and appropriate minimal educational credits is established by theuniversity independently in accordance with the needs of employers and labor market.

Taking into account changing needs of the economy, educational documents derived from the MES RKassumed to update periodically. So, at the beginning of 2013 study year, the changes of Classifier ofspecialties were already scheduled in order to move to qualitatively new stage of the development inaccordance with modern economic needs. Respectively, the revision of educational programs will occur.In this regard, we have conducted the analysis of existing training programs by specialty "Nanomaterialsand Nanotechnology" with preliminary study of international training experience in this field.

During the research from the position of possible modernization of educational programs, this sector oftraining has been considered, on the one hand, as a pedagogical system aimed on meeting the needs ofindividual student for developing his abilities, on the other hand, as a system of training that is directlyconnected with government policy of the creation and development of Kazakhstan's nanotechnologyindustry. Updating of educational content is intended for elective component of magisters’ educationalprogram by specialty “Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology” (NM and NT).

3. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE TRAINING OF SPECIALISTS BYSPECIALTY "NANOMATERIALS AND NANOTECHNOLOGY"

The research of Kazakhstan’s nanotechnology market, its potential and prospects of the developmentallowed to substantiate needful modernization of the structure and content of basic educationaldocuments that define the nature of the training of future specialists in NM and NT.




The study of international experience has shown that for most countries the training in NM and NT ischaracterized with the combination of fundamental training by natural science and modern engineeringtraining, which is focused on innovation in high technology. Training of specialists in this area does notoften cover all levels of education. For example, most universities in the UK, France do not offer belowthe level of magister (master) in nanotechnology training. On master's level it can be credited studentswith a bachelor's degree by one of the natural sciences or engineering disciplines (not necessarily innanotechnology). Several British universities offer so-called integrated program of bachelor and masterwith a term of 4 years of training. Students, who mastered this program, awarded Master degree innanotechnology. Doctoral study in nanotechnology is presented in almost each technical university ofthe EU countries, if there are even no educational programs bachelors or masters in nanotechnology (eg,University of Oulu, Finland).

In Kazakhstan, due to the fact that the development of nanotechnology is at an early stage, the beginningof the training for this sector of education relates to the system of post-graduate education (preparationof magisters and PhD - not bachelors). So far only doctoral level of training in NM and NT was licensed,but magister's training has already started and the development of scientific and methodological,organizational and technological basis in full swing. So, some results of the research carried out by theauthors of the article in the course of the project commissioned by the MES RK and dedicated to thedevelopment of post-graduate training in nanotechnology are given in this article.

It is necessary to note that nanotechnology training in Kazakhstan has own specificity. There isdifferentiation by application areas: nanoelectronics, chemical and mining industries. This is due to thecurrent priorities of scientific and technological development to ensure the diversification of theeconomy of Kazakhstan that is giving new impetus.

If such applications as nanoelectronics and chemical industry are considered as traditional fornanotechnology sector, then introduction of mining industry in nanotechnology training is caused by thecircumstance that mining branch is the key and historically formed industry in Kazakhstan's economy.Creating of nanotechnological direction of the training for mining and metallurgy application isconnected with the fact that mineral materials can be regarded as an example of nanosystems, and theinterface between the components of minerals (quartz, magnetite) is also considered as nanoobject. So,in Canada, Australia, South Africa the mining companies actively begin to use already nanotech in itsactivity (see review «Nanotechnologies: Applications and Opportunities for the Mining Industry»,Victor J E Jones, 2005, CFST Ventures Corporation, Canada).

As is known, without real research work as important element of educational infrastructure for anyuniversity, the training will have a formal character. Hence, mandatory introduction of educationalcomponents related to scientific research into curriculum as well as the introduction of significantresearch work is prescribed in a number of universities in the U.S. in accordance with the program NNI(National Nanotechnological Initiative). In addition, there is a serious methodical support, as a rule,using the modular principle for all levels of science-oriented education.

Noting the important role of scientific schools that are forming at the universities of Kazakhstan bymentioned areas of nanotechnological activity, it is necessary to emphasize just they are able to bindreal needs of nanotechnology and nanoscience with preparation of highly qualified specialists. Thesescientific schools will determine the environment, in which innovative, highly intelligent professionalsmay appear and grow.

Thus, the modernization of educational programs in NM and NT is based on the followingmethodological positions:




- the orientation on international advanced level of the development of nanotechnology in the mostpromising areas with ensuring of integration in training system;

- the assessment the real state and prospects of science and technology in Kazakhstan, that determinesneeded directions of training for economy development.

4. AREAS OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN NM AND NT AND THEAPPROPRIATE TRAINING OF SPECIALISTS

In order to realize the training with the orientation on scientific schools there were identified promisingareas of research and development in the frameworks of innovative projects of leading scientists atKazakh national technical university (KazNTU). All of them are implemented on the basis of existingor created laboratories of the university, using unique research equipment (instruments, installations,measurement systems, etc.). Achieved results of implemented scientific developments are in demandand interest of various companies both domestic and foreign. Beside of it, state support is guaranteed inthis area of research in accordance with government programs of economic development.

Reliance on research and developments allows to build a reasonable training and research work, to formand update curricula for magisters and doctors in NM and NT. It becomes possible to use scientific,informational, organizational resources to carry out research in the field of NM and NT at high scientificlevel, to introduce concrete results of research by priority areas into the learning process. That is thepresence of scientific schools by priority areas of nanomaterials and nanotechnology is regarded as themain condition for the modernization of corresponding educational programs.

The development of updated courses of academic disciplines in line with current scientific trends isfocused on theoretical training and acquisition of practical skills through the introduction of modularstructure.

In general, updated design of educational program meets the principles of consistency and efficiency toensure the integrity of education in this area of preparation and correspondence with the qualificationrequirements to specialists in nanotechnology.

Let's consider in summary form the content of some priority research areas in the context of formationof updated educational program on the basis of modular and competence-based technologies of training.Accordingly, the design of the training by specialty will be linked to real scientific problems that aresolved in the course of research and development in specific field.

Promising areas of training in nanotechnology are given in tables 1-5 in conjunction with research areasof scientific schools in KazNTU. Corresponding disciplines and modules for learning are focused oncertain goals and objectives of relevant field of study.

4.1. The synthesis of nanostructured carbon materials

Fundamental research by the development of nanostructured organic polymeric solar cells fortransformation of solar energy as well as nanocomposite materials based on carbon nanotubes have thestatus of priority directions in nanotechnology in Kazakhstan. The results of this research area connectedwith

- creation of CVD-systems by induction heating for growing of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT);

- production of carbon nanotubes and nano-composite materials consisting of polymers and nanotubes,which serve for many modern nanostructured functional devices;




- obtaining of solar cells of new generation based on organic polymer.

Based on the above, there were offered training disciplines according to the research within the frameof scientific school (see table 1).

Table 1

Area of research anddevelopment

Goals and objectives of relevantfield of study

The content of training (disciplines,modules for learning)

The synthesis ofnanostructuredcarbon materials

- getting in-depth knowledge ofphysical, chemical and physico-chemical processes and alsomethods, techniques and tools forproducing of carbon nanostructuredmaterials in order to make researchand developments at modern level

1. Discipline: “The perspective carbon-based nanomaterials”

Modules of discipline:

•Carbon nanotubes

•Polycrystalline diamond

•Graphene

• Fullerene

• Metal-carbon nano composites

•Apply of carbon nanomaterials

2. Discipline: “Methods of carbonnanomaterials synthesis”


•Chemical vapor deposition (CVD)

•Electric arc sputtering of graphite

•Plasma-chemical deposition (РЕCVD)

3. Discipline: “Modeling of NT processes”

The projection of this research direction on the education has led to pedagogical design of the contentof a variety of disciplines, including individual modules aimed on the formation of specific professionalcompetencies (see Table 2).

Table 2

Disciplines Modules Goals and objectives oflearning

Professional competenciesto be formed

The perspectivecarbon-basednanomaterials

Carbon nanotubes(CNT)

•Apply of carbonnanomaterials

- study the structure andproperties of CNT, methods of

growing and application

- ability to work on thelaboratory equipment on thebase of obtained knowledge

Polycrystalline diamond(PCD)

- study the unique properties andstructure of PCD, methods of

making and using

- ability to use obtainedknowledge in the research

of properties

Graphene - study graphene properties asprospect material for micro- and

- ability to use obtainedknowledge in the




nanoelectronics, methods oftheir obtaining

development of methods ofgraphenes obtaining

Fullerene - study the features of carbonbond, functional purpose,

application

- ability to use obtainedknowledge in comparative

analysis of carbon NM

Metal-carbon nanocomposites (MCNC)

- study physical and chemicalproperties of MCNC, theircarbon matrix, the nature of

phase interaction

- ability to use obtainedknowledge in comparative

analysis of carbon NM

Apply of carbonnanomaterials

- study the prospects for the useof carbon NM as a basis of

stabilizers and preservatives inelectronics and robotics

- ability to analyze theapplication from the

position of efficiency ofproperties

Methods ofcarbon

nanomaterialssynthesis

Chemical vapordeposition (CVD)

- learning the mechanisms ofchemical reactions of solid phase

deposition involving gaseouscompounds (CVD-process)

- ability to use theoreticalknowledge in the work with

CVD-reactor

Electric arc sputtering ofgraphite

- mastering the technology ofelectric arc sputtering andultrasonic dispersion forcomponents separation

- ability to use theoreticalknowledge of mechanisms

of fullerene structureformation from the plazma

Plasma-chemicaldeposition (РЕCVD)

- learning basic chemical laws,kinetics and plasma physics,types of discharges used in

plasma chemistry

- ability to use theoreticalknowledge of plazma-

chemical technology forconcrete applying

Modeling ofNT processes

- mastering mathematicalalgorithm of modeling of time-

dependent processes of synthesisof CNT

- ability to analyze thefeatures of CNT and usemethods of mathematical

modeling

4.2 Nanoelectronics

Nanoelectronics is the other important area of nanotechnological activity, where is the possibility ofbreakthrough. This is due to the needs of miniaturization of electronic components that form the basisof information and computer technology. The development of this research area can lay the properscientific basis for the development of appropriate educational infrastructure that is needed for achievingof training objectives of competitive specialists in NM and NT.

In Kazakhstan, nanoelectronics is a young research area that appeared as a result of the development ofsolid-state physics, physics of semiconductors and dielectrics, microelectronics. These disciplines havedetermined the selection of new disciplines ("Nanotechnology in Electronics", "Microelectronics andSolid State Electronics") for this area of preparation (Table 3). The important role of this area of trainingplays international experience that made necessary learning of nanodiagnostics, nanoengineering ofnanomaterials.




Table 3

Areas of researchand development



Nano electronics andmethods of analysisand diagnose of NM

- getting knowledge of physicalprocesses in nanosystems;

studying element base ofnanoelectronics and components ofmicrosystem technique in order touse special methods of analysisand diagnose of NM

1. Discipline: “Nanotechnology innanoelectronics”


• Element base of nanoelectronics

• Nanosensors

2. Discipline: “Microelectronics and solidstate electronics”


• Microelectronics and microsystemtechnology

• Optoelectronics

• Diagnoses of integral microsystem

3. Discipline: “Special methods of analysisand diagnose of NM”


• Methods of transmission and scanningelectron microscopy

• Methods of probe tunneling and atomicforce spectroscopy

• Nanolithography

• Methods of diagnosis of semiconductors

But taking into account views of Kazakhstan's leading scientists in this sector of science, it wasappropriate to introduce into educational program by specialty NM and NT the discipline "PhysicalChemistry of Nanostructured Materials" (in our case it is given in next area of research). Kazakhstaniscientists suppose, at present "nanoelectronics is presented as a bank of ideas, which only used to a smallextent in industry” (E.E.Ergojin, E.M. Aryn and others, 2010, p.90). This circumstance "gives theopportunity for Kazakhstan to take own place in international division of labor in given field, ascountries with different levels of technological development are still in about the equal position towardsnanoelectronics" - scientists say. "The physical chemistry of hydrophilic polymers is considered asscientific basis of Kazakhstan’s initiative in the field of nanoelectronics". "Kazakhstani physico-chemical schools in this field traditionally occupy a position that no inferior to research groups from themost developed countries. The breakthrough is possible to implement on this basis "(ibid.).

4.3 Nanochemistry

In KazNTU, scientific direction of nanochemistry develops in studies by regulation of properties ofdisperse systems and surface phenomena. Problem of stability of nanodisperse systems is solved on thebase of systematic study of surfactants, polymers and mixtures thereof. The successful development of




this area of research allows to be concentrated on the studies with subsequent projection on educationalprocess.

That is why disciplines and modules given in the table 4 were included into educational program byspecialty "Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology (for chemical industry)". They are focused on concreteprofessional competences, namely:

- understanding of the behavior of nano chemical components and the ability to predict their stabilityand physical-chemical properties;

- understanding and ability to solve the problems of stability of nano dispersed systems;

- ability to apply polymeric nanomaterials knowledge in specific field of research and development.

Table 4




Nano chemistry - understanding the problems ofnanochemistry, the prospects ofdevelopment in order to have ideahow to get new functionalnanomaterials knowing theirstructure and properties and be ablepredict the physical and chemicalproperties through the synthesizingof the knowledge gained in thecourse of general, inorganic,physical and analytical chemistry

1. Discipline: “Physical Chemistry ofNanostructured Materials”


• Nanochemical components

• Mechanisms of nanosized chemicaleffects

2. Discipline: “Colloidal nanochemistry”


• Nanochemistry of disperse system anssurface phenomena

3. Discipline: “Polymer nanomaterials”


• The principles of functioning and applyingof polymer nanomaterials

4.4 Structural nanomaterials

Active research is carried out in the field of structural nanomaterials, therefore it was the sense to focuson relevant research and developments with the perspective of introduce research results in learningprocess. According to this promising direction, extensive studies are conducted in many countries. So,to date disperse-reinforced composite materials based on aluminum alloys have the most widespread.Such materials can be obtained by mechanical alloying (processing of powder in mechanical activatorand subsequent consolidation). In this direction, the research of the formation of bulk ultrafine (nano)materials and surface modification of materials are actively developed in Kazakhstan. Accordingly, itwas reflected in educational program through including the course "Nanodispersed powders" andmodules "Equipment for the formation of nanosized materials," "Peculiarities of nanoscale structures "(see table 5).




Table 5




Structuralnanomaterials:development ofnanocomposites foruse in constructions

- formation of scientific thinking ofspecialists having knowledge innano-composite structural materials;mastering of skills for applicationtheoretical, experimental andcomputational methods to solvepractical problems ofnanocomposite materialstechnology, the creation of structuralnanomaterials.

Discipline: “Nanodisperse powders”


• Equipment for the formation ofnanosied materials

• Peculiarities of nanoscale structures

Moreover, taking into account international links and partnership between our university and someforeign universities in the frame of educational integration in nanotechnology, as well as research worksby the development of new nanocompositions for specific applications in laboratory of material scienceand nanotechnology in KazNTU it was also reasonable to consider research results of this area for usein learning process. As a result, on the basis of theoretical knowledge and practical skills, neededprofessional competencies by the technology of nanodispersed materials formation with theunderstanding of development prospects to be formed.

It is important to note that the use of modular technology during the learning of given disciplines is verymeaningful. Preparing of specialists for high-tech industries means intensive use of technical devices,instruments in training process. Equipping of educational process by special experimental, diagnosticand metrological equipment together with effective use according to interests of students can be realizedwithin the individual modules of training.

Using a competence-based approach to the development of educational program is caused by the needto establish a link between the objectives of study disciplines and concrete training results in terms ofprofessional competencies characterizing of specialists in HM and NT. The overall result of the trainingis achieving of such educational level of learners, which provides effective professional activity of futurespecialists in NM and NT.

Professional competency, acquired in the system of post-graduate education, is usually considered asthe aggregate of general professional (invariant) and special professional (variant) competencies.Elective component of the training, mainly aimed on the formation of special professional competencies.However, it is not possible to form all necessary competencies during the disciplines learning. Thatrequires the development of various forms of educational activities related to intensive research work inuniversity laboratories in order to solve specific problems. The proper scientific atmosphere, whicharises in the course of studies and solving of large practical problems, creates research spirit andcontributes to the development of additional professional competencies.




5. ABOUT THE POSSIBILITIES OF AN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM FOCUSED ONRESEARCH DIRECTIONSOrientation on research directions developed in the framework of innovative projects of scientists ofKazNTU allows providing reasonable modernization of educational program and real link betweenscience and education through addressing specific challenges of the industry. As advantages of suchapproach to organization of educational programs can be called the following new opportunities:

- learning of theoretical material that is built on real practical developments;

- efficient use of complex and expensive scientific equipment (eg. installation for the synthesis ofcarbon-based nanomaterials);

- software for process modeling (eg. Termo Calc).

Successful development of promising scientific areas promotes not only a competitive market ofnanoproducts, but, at the same time purposefully provides the quality of graduates, who can effectivelycarry out activity in developing nanotechnological sector. In fact, the training adapts to specific activitiesand the real problems of the industry. Modular and competence-based technologies of the training arethe most effective for planned educational outcomes (specific knowledge, research and professionalskills).

Talking about the possibilities of educational program for teaching in conjunction with real researchesand promising developments, it should be emphasized that the modernization of educational programsis carried out mainly at the expense of elective courses, which are variable in different universities ofthe country.

Since a number of universities and research centers in the country is intensively engaged with the studyof nano-objects, then the creation of new scientific areas by local scientists is a continuous process. Andit should be reflected in educational process of any university through methodologically substantiatedprovision of educational programs (similar to the presented in this paper). So, for example, at East-Kazakhstan State Technical University named after D.Serikbayev (EKSTU) are conducted extensiveresearches in nanotechnology by the following areas:

- natural nanomaterials,

- technologies of extraction of natural carbon nanoparticles,

- nanotechnology for opening of non-ferrous and precious metals,

- nano-films and nano-coatings,

- nanotechnology of obtaining of technical ceramic based compounds of rare metals, etc.

Moreover, on the basis of studies it was organized serial production of technical ceramics ( S. Mutanov,2008, p.6). Obviously, educational programs of training in NM and NT should build on the work ofscientific schools at EKSTU, varying the content of elective part (component).

Thus, elective component of training allows to form individual learning paths of students through thefree choice of disciplines in accordance with the planned objectives and the interests. But selectionprocess should not be given to students fully. It requires a lot of work from teachers who ensurefamiliarity with the content, achievements, prospects of research work both in the world and in thecountry. Once the student learns about the opportunities and prospects for development of the real stateof science and technology in the world, country and at the university, the proper professional interestsand desires can appear.




6. CONCLUSION

In Kazakhstan, the development of nanomaterials and nanotechnology is a priority and aimed on theexpansion that can lead to systemic changes in the real sector of national economy due to widespreadproduction of high-tech products. Advances in this area have meaningful role for scientific andeducational communities of the Kazakhstan.

Scientific results of priority areas of research plus orientation on international experience allow to formlearning process at new level by upgrading of elective component of educational programs aimed on thetraining of specialists demanded in high-tech industries.

Agreeing with the statement that "the strategy of the development of nanotechnology can only be builton concrete material" (E. Ergojin, E. Aryn and others, 2010, p.13), there were offered methodologicallysubstantiated educational programs, upgrading of which is based on "concrete materials".

Thereby, the experience in the development of educational programs in NM and NT based on modulesand competencies with the use of achievements of Kazakhstani scientific schools was presented in thispaper.

REFERENCES

1. Ergojin, E.E., Aryn, E.M., Suleimenov, I.E., Belenko, N.M., Gabrielyan, O.A.,Suleimenova, K.I, Mun, G.A. Nanotechnology. Economics. Geopolitics. – Almaty: «Print-S»,2010. – p.227.

2. Emerging technologies, equipment and analytical systems for materials andnanomaterials: Proceedings of the seminar/ Ed. Prof. LV Kozhitova/ - p. 6 - Mutanov, S. -Moscow: Intercontact Science, 2008.

3. Message from the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan - Leader of the NationNursultan Nazarbayev to the people of Kazakhstan "Strategy Kazakhstan-2050 ": a newpolitical course of the state". – Astana. – 14.12.2012. http://www.akorda.kz

4. Nanotechnologies: Applications and Opportunities for the Mining Industry», Victor JE Jones, 2005, CFST Ventures Corporation, Canada

5. 2010-2014 National Program of Forced Industrial Innovative Development of theRepublic of Kazakhstan. – Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated March19, 2010. №958

6. State educational standards of higher education: prospects for development.Monography/ ed. Ya.I.Kuzminova, D.V. Puzankova, I.B. Fedorov, V.D. Shadrikova. – M.:Logos, 2004. – p.328.

7. State classifier of higher and postgraduate education. Entered into force March 20, 2009.№ 131-од. GC. RK 08-2009.

8. The State Educational Standards of Kazakhstan. Post-graduate education (PhD) SMESRK 5.04.034-2008. 2008.09.01.




QUALITY AS A MAJOR PRIORITY OF HEALTH CARE

Pavlinka P. Dobrilova, Penka P. Marinova

Medical University Sofia, “Prof. Ivan Mitev, Ph.D” Branch, Vratsa

Abstract

Under crisis conditions, health care systems are not easy to reform but that does not mean neglectingthe quality of the offered health care. On the contrary: it means putting the problems forward by frequentanalyses and various studies, searching for methods, opinions of theorists, new approaches andintroduction of low-cost technologies.

The article analyses different opinions of theorists on quality in various spheres including health care.It quotes definitions of quality given by the World Health Organization and ISO and the opinions ofrenowned authors that worked on quality issues. It discusses the addition of patient satisfaction as ameasure of quality of services.

Key words: quality, health care, health services, satisfaction, health needs, users, patients.

Requirements to medical activities are a priority in the legislation of European countries and definecitizens’ rights of access to high-quality medical care and protection against unnecessary andincompetent treatment ( Ivanova, Dimova & Gareva, 2005 ).

Health care quality issues in Bulgaria are also developing and following developments in othercountries. They are reflected in a number of laws, regulations and decrees on health care activities thatguarantee quality by means of requirements to hospitals and other health institutions, as well as by meansof standards defining the type, level and parameters of each medical activity.

The issue of hospital care quality is especially topical due to the constantly increasing needs of thepatients who become more aware and seek more information about hospital treatment and servicesoffered ( Chaneva, 2008 ).

There are many studies on patient health care quality satisfaction. A number of them prove that carequality in hospitals is related to patient satisfaction. Attree discusses the issues of “good” and “not sogood” quality care ( Atreeq 2001 ). Bryant, Graham, Tigar, Morin and many other authors study patentsatisfaction with nursing care ( Brayant, Graham & Tigar, 2002, Morin, 1999 ). Other authors analyzethe impact of social environment in hospitals on patient adaptation and healing process. Still others studythe relationships between patients and medical specialists, professional development, motivation, healthcare functions and training which influence health care quality.

Having reviewed the available studies of patients’ opinions of hospital services, the team of Popov, B.Davidov and M. Marinov concludes that “the patient is a subject that has his needs, rights, feelings, likesand dislikes” ( Popov, Davidov & Marinov, 2000 ).

Quality assessment is a complex of measures focused on collecting information to confirm whether thegoals of a program or activity have been achieved.




Each evaluation is aimed at identifying the level of achievement of the objectives of the system.Evaluation of quality in healthcare must show how and to what extent improved the results of healthservices, as reflected in health status, functional capacity of the population, psychosocial well-being andpatient satisfaction.

Lately, experts stress on the urgent need to get over the underestimation of patient satisfaction as ameasure of health care quality assessment.

Until recently, patients’ opinions were not considered sufficiently reliable and valid for health carequality evaluation because they refer rather to interpersonal relations than to the technical andqualification aspect of the activities. There is no doubt, however, that patients’ perceptions andsatisfaction have a strong impact on their behavior, for instance on their choice of physician, avoidanceof medical care and seeking for other means (psychics, healers, doulas, self-healing, etc.), complaints,neglect of prescribed regimen, etc.

This behavior of the patients always has certain consequences for health and health care quality. That iswhy patient satisfaction. is now analyzed as part of actual results of health care activity ( Borisov, 2004)

When evaluating results, it is critical to assess patient satisfaction with care received because, on theone hand, it shows the degree of satisfaction with patient expectations, and, oh the other hand, it containssome elements that serve as feedback for the improvement of processes in hospitals.

Patients desire to receive hospital care that satisfies their needs and expectations. These needs andexpectations are collectively called patient requirements. Due to competition pressures and technicaladvance, hospitals are forced to constantly improve their products and processes, to establish systemsof internal and external control on activities in compliance with regulations. The need for the hospitalsto provide high-quality medical services is dictated by the requirements of the National Health InsuranceFund and also by the Regulation of the Ministry of Health on the criteria, indicators and methods ofaccreditation of health facilities. The concept of constant quality improvement is gradually becomingan integral part of the philosophy of health facilities. ( Doraliyski, 2006 )

qualification

quality of care

ethics LabourOrganization

health education to thepatient

management (control)of the quality

payment




Consumer quality assessment is reflected in international standards (ISO 9001:2000, item 5.2.; ISO9004:2000, item 4.3.; ISO/DIS 9000:2000, item 0.2.; ISO/TR 10014:1998, item 8). There are someinteresting clarifications to be made in this respect. It is defined that customer/consumer satisfactionshows the perception of the degree of fulfillment of his/her requirements. Complaints are the mostgeneral indicator of low satisfaction with the quality of products and services provided but their absencedoes not mean that satisfaction is high. Even when quality requirements have been agreed andimplemented, satisfaction is not necessarily registered.

According to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), quality in general is a set ofinherent characteristics of a product or a service which are related to their ability to satisfy certainneeds.

According to the definition of “health care quality” accepted by the World Health Organization, this is:

· care that achieves the best health result – maximum benefit and minimum risk for the patient;

· care that demonstrates excellent professionalism of all participants;

· care that reports efficient and rational use of resources;

· care that reports high level of satisfaction and confidence of the patients.

To warrant and maintain the high quality of health care, we must know what the patient needs anddesires. The source of this information is the patient himself, the one who feels pain and risks his life,either actively or passively. The starting point of health care quality is the relationship with the patientwhich defines and describes the methods of work with him by means of the different services providedto him ( Popov, 2001 ).

We must bear in mind that some diseases cannot be treated but there is always something more that youcan do for the patient (for instance, palliative care for terminal patients) to improve the quality of hislife, in all cases by using the achievements of modern medical science. When discussing the resultsexpected by the patients, it important to know that they do not always match the professional point ofview or the available medical potential.

High quality means:

· high level of professionalism

· efficient utilization of resources

· minimum risk for the patient

· patient satisfaction

· positive impact on health.

By using the accepted definitions, we can derive the specific definition of hospital care quality:




It is a set of signs, conditions and properties of a hospital product or service used in the process ofgiving hospital care and meeting completely or surpassing the expectations of a certain individual orgroup of patients.

In recent years, substantial changes have occurred both in the global and national practices, for instancein the development of a new philosophy of nursing, the rising needs of health care and the mobility ofhealth care professionals. That demands from medical specialists (doctors, nurses, midwives) the abilityto organize high-quality health care on a global level by applying the holistic approach to the patientand his problems.

The various health care quality schemes still use the concepts proposed by A. Donabedian and R.Maxwell which are successfully applied and developed in the sphere of health care and the concepts ofW. Shewhart, W. E. Deming and J. M. Juran and others that have found their place in industry and otherspheres of economy.

The Donabedian concept includes:

Structure – the available buildings that house the units of direct health care provision and the ones thatassist its activities; the structure and recruitment of staff, the working teams, administrativemanagement, available techniques and equipment;

Processes – access to the respective procedures and various activities related to the direct health careprovision (diagnostics, treatment, prevention, rehabilitation, etc.) or, in Donabedian’s own words, “careper se”;

Result or “outcome” of the process – the effect of the activity for the patient, for instance life extension,elimination or alleviation of suffering, reduction of pain, patient satisfaction with the care.

Donabedian model

equpments treatments

OutcomesStructures Processes

satisfaction

building diagnostic mortality

staffing

finances

committe

guidelines

morbidity

benefit

value




The concept of R. Maxwell is broader and includes:

· Access to health care;

· Relevance – sufficiency depending on needs;

· Effectiveness – the benefit to the individual patient which can be reported is improvement ordeterioration;

· Equality – health care quality should the same for rich and poor, for different ethnic groups, forcity dwellers and villagers, for young and old;

· Social perceptivity – society should be able to perceive and accept the results of health careprovided and the price thereof;

· Efficiency and economy – to achieve the needed effect with minimum cost of resources.

The variety of theories, concepts, models and studies prove the great significance and the continuousrelevance of the health care quality issues. Many authors in health care and other spheres research thequality of services offered, the methods of its assessment and the tools of its maintenance in compliancewith the development of health care systems and the changing requirements of their users. Havinganalyzed a small part of the opinions of different authors on health care quality, we find that it is aconstant process of improvement and development which needs periodic analyses, studies and updateslike any other repetitive cycle.

Borisov ( 2004 ) presents healthcare organization as a system in which the input by a particular processbecomes passes in output.

Environment

Health organization

input processtransformation

output

feedback

System model of the management of healthcare organization

The patient and the nurse are the main inputs of the system but here we can include also other elementslike materials, equipment, premises, all direct and indirect costs used to achieve the final results. Theprocess consists of the actions of the nurse related to the final results for the patient and the actions ofthe management related to goal setting for nurses’ behavior. The final result is described or defined fromthe patient point of view and the model of patient care and is most frequently measured by qualitativeindicators ( Borisov, 1997).




The need for nursing care is universal as people need it from birth to death. When caring for the patients,the nurse always tries to create an atmosphere of respect to their spiritual values, customs and beliefs.

The professionalization of nursing demands strong leadership to support the autonomy of nursingpractice and contribute to the establishment of a solid basis of nursing knowledge and research (Marinova, 2001).

The central role of the nurse in the organization, coordination and implementation of patient care andthe extension of autonomous nursing functions warrant the introduction of the “nursing method”concept. Grancharova defines the nursing method as a work process in which the nurse defines, performsand assesses the actions related to its own role ( Grancharova, 2005 ). A number of authors describeconcepts and theories of the approach to nursing care to define the autonomous functions of nurses.

Approach to nursing care

In recent years, the nursing profession is based mainly on the approach that allows the choice ofphilosophy, creates opportunities of individual approach to the patient, obliges the nurses to talk to andtrain the patients and make decisions in the sphere of nursing care. This approach is implemented bymeans of the patient’s record which documents the patient’s problem and the nursing care plan.Documenting nursing performance is a precondition of its measurement, evaluation and improvementof its effectiveness and quality ( Chaneva, 2008 ).

collecting and recordinginformation on the patient

formulation of the problem(placing nursing diagnosis)

development of an individualcare plan for the patient

implementation of care

intervention of the nurse

evaluation of results




Although global practice gives sound evidence of the role of nursing process as a key factor for theimprovement of nursing care quality, our country still lacks a single official document to unite theoverall patient information regarding nursing care and manipulations. When analyzing the factors thatprevent the implementation of the nursing process into the hospitals and other medical institutions inour country, P. Marinova et al. point out a number of barriers. First among them comes the absence ofa regulatory requirement of its application ( Marinova & Iankova, 2010 ).

In the opinion of G. Chaneva, hospital nurses never have enough time to talk to the patients and theirfamily and to fill in nursing documentation. What is feasible under the existing working conditions ofthe nurses is the preparation and implementation of standard care plans. They contribute to a more rapidresponse of the nurses in their care for the patients. Hospital nursing care quality should meet thepatient’s expectations and needs both in respect of technical performance of care and procedures andhis relationships with the staff (Chaneva, 2008 ).

Despite of all existing barriers to the implementation of the nursing process, it is vital to settle in aregulatory way its applicability in practice to guarantee the improvement of nursing care quality andpatient satisfaction.

Another issue related to quality components in their entirety is that in different cases the requirementsand the tools used to improve quality depending on the targets can refer to different quality components.For instance:

· the regulatory basis is considered more like a structure, but when it is focused on the improvementof processes, it can be referred to them;

· the efforts of qualification improvement is related to structure quality but they are a processthemselves;

· the clinical pathways, therapeutic algorithms, technical datasheets, reports, etc. are referred to thedescription of processes but their existence in the regulatory basis refers them to the structure; the resultis whether they are performed or not, but the result quality is related to the patient satisfaction with theperformance, for instance, of a clinical pathway;

· accreditation is a process when a self-assessment or an external assessment is performed, while theresult is the assessment itself;

· the internal hospital regulations which establish the respective committees are a part of the structure,the activity of these committees is a process, while the indicators that characterize the committee activityare a result;

· the existence of rules to analyze complaints refers to the structure, the analysis and assessment is aprocess, but the relative share of complaints as a percentage of the number of all patients treated is aresult;

· professionalism is directed to the improvement of structure and process, and finally to result;

· ensuring of safety, respect for patients’ rights and increase of satisfaction are processes, while safeconditions and level of satisfaction are results.

The process of analysis and assessment of results achieved is critical for the follow-up decisions ofprocess and quality improvement in relation to meeting patient expectations.

In conclusion, we can summarize:




· Health care reforms are related to provision of high-quality medical care and need structural andorganizational changes adequate to the conditions of economic crisis.

· The efforts of health administration, funding organizations and consumers (patients) are directed tothe implementation of new requirements to the provision of high-quality medical care.

· In the sphere of health, we find specific difficulties in defining quality because of the variety ofpotential “customers” of health care: first of all, patients and their family and friends, then come healthprofessionals, insurers, the state, etc. The analysis of the different aspects of quality needs a goodknowledge of the specific quality requirements of each of these groups.

· The processes of globalization and the tendency of the constant increase of health care needs inEurope and the world determine the need for implementation and application of new models of healthcare provision.

· A new approach is necessary for the organization of activities performed by health care specialistsin modern hospitals; selection and motivation of staff, constant qualification improvement to satisfyhealth care requirements.

REFERENCES

Alexandrova, M & Moskov, A 2001, Development of the the nursing profession in Bulgaria and theinfluence of European countries, Nursing, no. 4, pp. 20-23

Attree, M 2001, Patients and relatives experiences and perspectives of “good” and “not so good”quality care. J.Adv.Nursing, no. 4, pp. 456-466

Borisov, V 1994, Health Policy and Management (lectures), Schedule Consult Ltd., Sofia, pp. 94-96

Borisov, V 1997, Management of organizational change in health, Sofia, Filvest

Borisov, V & Vodenitcharov, T 2000, Realities of health reform, Sofia, Filvest

Borisov, V 2001, Quality health care., Social Medicine, a textbook for medical colleges, GorekPres, pp.20-23

Borisov, V 2004, Quality Management in Healt, Health Management, Sofia, Filvest, pp. 243-258

Borisov, V 2004, Health Management, Foundation of health management, Sofia, Filvest, vol.1, p. 249

Brayant, R, Graham, M & Tigarq T 2000, Advanced practice nurse: a study of client satisfaction.-J.Am.Acad.Nurs.Practice, vol.14, no. 2, pp. 88-92

Chaneva G 2008, The quality of nursing care as a priority, Ed "Artic 2001" Ltd., Sofia

European Foundation for Quality Management, EFQM Excellence Model, Public and Voluntary SectorVersion, 2003

European Foundation for Quality Management (http://www.efqm.org)

Grancharova, G 2005, Management of health care, Pleven, p 240

Ivanov, L 1989, Raising occupational skills for ensuring quality medical services, WHO-EURO,Bratislava

Doraliyski A 2006, Management Policy, Economy, Sofia, 2006




Health Act, SG 70, 2004

Health Establishments Act. SG 62, 1999, dop.br.108, 2000

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION of nurses, midwives and associated medical professionals. Prom.SG, issue 46 of 03.06.2005

Zlatanova, T & Velikova, R 2011, Approaches to improving the quality of management in the hospital,Inga, Twenty-seventh session of the technological and scientific CONTACT 2011, 24.06.2011, Sofia,pp. 114-120

Ivanova, T, Dimova, A & Gareva, G 2005 Quality of health services. Ed NPHC, Sofia, pp. 257-285

Malcom Baldrige Awards (http://www.asq.org/info/baldrige/index.html)

Marinova, P 2001, Contemporary nurse. Sociological, educational and managerial aspects, Sofia, NewDay, pp. 7-17

Marinova, P & Iankova, G 2010, Implementation of Nursing Process - needed organizational priorityof Health, Medical meridians, vol. I., no. 3, pp. 38-42

Markova, S, Stambolova,I & Chaneva, G 2001, Autonomy and accountability in nursing practice.Nursing, no. 2, pp. 8-12

Morin.D 1999, Mesure de resultants en soins infrmiers: satisfaction des. Usagers.-Res. Soins in furm,no. 58, pp. 95-102

National health strategy "Better Health for a Better Future of Bulgaria", Ministry of Health, Sofia, 2001,pp. 94-98

National Health Insurance Fund. National Framework Agreement 2012 Additional provision.www.nhif.bg

Petrova, Z, Tchamov, K & Gladilov, S 2008, Quality in health care, Contemporary dimensions andtrends, Media group, Sofia, pp. 69 - 82

Popov, M, David, B & Marinov, M 2000, Humanized hospital - from concept to implementation, Sofia,Open Society Foundation, p.13

Popov, M 2001, Hospital management (theoretical aspects and practical solutions - Selected lectures),ed. "Heraclitus A & H", Sofia

Salchev, P 2004, Report to the nation's health in the 21st century (Analysis of Health Reform), pp. 113-118 www.ncphp.government.bg

Stambolova, I & Chaneva, G 2007, Health Care Management, Filvest Press, p.56

Vodenitcharov, T 2004, Hospital care, social medicine, textbook of medical colleges, Acar PINT, pp.108-112




INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION AND ITS ROLE

IN WORLD CULTURAL PROCESSESIveta M. Popova, Penka A. Marinova, Anna M. Marinova, Pavlinka P. Dobrilova


Abstract

Intercultural communication is a dynamic, flexible and changing process in the context of contemporaryglobalization which leads to cross-cultural interactions that influence world cultural processes. Thearticle discusses issues of interpenetration of cultures that enrich the overall fund of world culture, ofcultural traditions and their role for the preservation of cultural diversity of humankind. It stresses oncultural dialogue and its importance for the future of culture. A differentiation is made of global,regional, national and ethnic cultures in the bosom of world culture and common cultural space. Itfocuses on the significance of art in the process if intercultural dialogue and the impact of mass cultureto the global cultural fund. The article points out the importance of finance in the process of interculturalcommunication. It discusses culture as a sphere of business and the cultural product as a commodity ofexchange that has specific artistic qualities and moral and aesthetic value that depend on marketconditions.

Key words: intercultural communication, world culture, global cultural fund, cultural traditions,intercultural dialogue, national culture, common cultural space, cultural product.

INTRODUCTIONOne of the most characteristic features of our times is the sincere desire of the nations to communicatespiritually, to get to know each other, to exchange ideas and created samples of art. Today’s busy culturalexchange has a specific and indispensable importance for the preservation of the world’s culturalheritage and the further positive development of human civilization. The specific cultural exchange ofeach country is in close relation to spiritual life inside it. The level, energy and trends in internationalcultural activities depend on the level of cultural exchange, activities, trends and processes. No nationalculture can develop in time and space without relations and contacts with the overall cultural space ofall mankind and the world cultural processes of interpenetration and unity.

INTERPENETRATION OF CULTURESVarious researchers rightly claim that cultural horizons of mankind are constantly expanding. Thisexpansion means that today people, as in no other age in their history, know and live with the culturaland artistic values of more and more ages, nations and regions. The variety of cultural and artistic valuesthat reach the consciousness of modern man creates a fundamentally different “cultural space” and“cultural time” determined by and itself determining the convergence of ages and countries by moreactive cultural relations and interpenetration.

This common cultural space is built on the basis of the specific interpenetration model within the generalmodule of “world culture”. The numerous cultures existing now and through the centuries and embedded




in this concept are an objective source for the creation of a new form of unity which all progressiveminds of the planet are becoming ever more aware of.

This current need of survival by throwing cultural bridges across all nations and their cultural traditionsstimulates the versatile mutual knowledge and dialogue on an international cultural level. The hiddencultural potential of separate countries is built on the most important source of self-determined culturaldiversity which is the national cultural and artistic tradition. It is the foundation of the purely “national”and “original” which, through worldwide cultural relations, contributes to the enrichment of the globalcultural fund.

The tendency to display to the world the national cultural specificities woke up to a new life somepreviously closed cultural communities and encouraged them to exhibit their cultural and artistic richesthrough the eyes of modern humanity.

CULTURAL TRADITION AND ITS ROLE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE CULTURALDIVERSITY OF MANKIND.

Along with the established global dimensions of human culture, an important issue comes to the fore:the preservation and understanding of its regional оcultural diversity. In this way, each judgment on theglobal dimensions of culture today includes a reflection on the relations and dynamics between the“common” and “specific” in it which, in itself, is a summary of the unity and diversity of human cultureswithin the cultural and historic process. By embedding the cultural traditions of individual nations intothe cultural diversity of mankind, two separate aspects are revealed:

- As “distinctive original cultural heritage of nations”;

- As “live works” which are directly or indirectly related to the first.

Thus, the analysis of any cultural tradition allows us to find the local or national cultural specifics andits importance of the export of cultural values into the common cultural space. In this sense, culturaltradition becomes the focus of a general philosophical reflection. It can be defined primarily as aconstant mechanism of any cultural process. It can also be discussed as a key symbol of any culturalheritage or historical experience and a major channel for culture to realize its essence: to be conveyedas information and experience of the generations. /Konrad Lorenz/. Whether we stress on the “activity”or “assessment” aspect of tradition, it will always remind of both cultural and social processes and theproducts of those processes. These are products of spiritual or material activity and specific longer-lasting psychological attitudes to it, of life and philosophical orientation and, therefore, of everythingwe relate to the subjective aspects of cultures and which is enriched with the issues of internationaldialogue and understanding.

THE DIALOGUE OF CULTURES AS THE FUTURE OF CULTURE.The expression “dialogue of cultures”, beloved in the past and found in various documents of UNESCO,is now becoming more widespread for a number of reasons:

- Firstly, it contains a certain humanistic pathos and centuries-old human aspirations directed to amore fulfilling dialogue among people, nations and social communities

- Secondly, it approves the “field of activity” where different cultures join hands in the name of theirmutual understanding and evaluation.




In the UNESCO documents the term “dialogue of cultures” is not specifically defined. First used with aview to the need of better convergence of the cultures of the east and the west,, it gradually expandedits meaning. It accompanied some Eurocentrist ideas of cultural and historic progress based on the“principle of equality” and the so topical “mutual recognition and evaluation among cultures”. It remindsof the “sacred right of each nation to have its own culture” which, however, does not revoke themandatory respect for the “cultural pluralism of our times”. In other words, the desired dialogue ofcultures generally associated with the issue of cultural identity of groups, nations and regions andencouraged by their intensive communication today is an appeal for the preservation and betterunderstanding of the whole treasure of global cultural heritage and the variety of its traditions. It is anappeal for the understanding of a new type of contacts and interpenetration of “outer” and “inner”,“own” and “foreign”. The development of this type of relations, as well as the nation’s overall pictureof itself accumulated over time, always supports the symbolic forms of human thinking and behavior.They crystallize in more durable forms as orientations not only in life but also in art and in all spheres.

The European Union bet their stakes on intercultural dialogue. In united Europe, communication andcontacts among the cultures of all countries became an established tradition. The hopes are that themulticultural society will develop into an intercultural one. Intercultural dialogue can be defined as aprocess of open and mutually respectful exchange of views among individuals and groups of differentethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic background and heritage. These are mostly young people closelyconnected by the fundamental ambition to build Europe by the efforts of European nations. Interculturaldialogue is needed more than ever because of the growing impact of globalization which is both a chanceto encourage diversity and creativity and a challenge to the ability of Europe to create closely knitcommunities. Intercultural dialogue generates new ideas and fosters better understanding in society. Itallows people to find the wealth of cultural diversity and its importance for their own development andfor society as a whole, and facilitates public participation /according to the definition of the Council ofEurope/.

THE NOTION OF “NATIONAL’’ IN WORLD CULTURE AND THE COMMON CULTURALSPACE.

Does the term “national” have sense and place in a time where the most progressive aspirations affirmthe universally human in the establishment of a new Global Culture? Let us recall that culture within aspecific synchronous section exists and, more accurately, invariably occurs on several typical levels:

Level 1 - Global Culture

Level 2 – regional cultures

Level 3 – national and ethnic cultures

Therefore, the characteristic of “national” comes to denote a specific form of regional or localmanifestation of culture. Similarly, the concept of “national cultural and artistic tradition” helps usoutline the culture of a specific historical and ethnic community.

National artistic traditions are not only an element but are sometimes a most vivid expression of anation’s cultural traditions. Therefore, the analysis of a nation’s artistic tradition is the focal point of thenation’s cultural history, and not only when it displays the meeting of its original heritage with its currentculture and arts. It is also the focal point when trying to find in an behind that meeting the orientationsand psychological attitudes sustainable over time and related to the social and historical experience, thedistinctive spirit and the national character.




In other words, the very issue of artistic tradition is now placed not in its art-critic aspect of perpetualdisputes between “traditionalists and innovators”, between “old” and “new” artistic media, searches andaspirations. It is painted in larger strokes as a general expression of a “local cultural specificity” and apossible starting point of cultural exchange an intercultural dialogue.

The factors that have the strongest influence on the formation of the national tradition’s specifics are:each country’s geographic location, their customs, beliefs, language, artistic symbols or “pictures of theworld”, i.e. everything we can relate our idea of artistic tradition to. Many nations have fully recognizedsome cultural components as their own or have developed their sense of cultural identity against thebackground of other cultural processes. In this sense, national identity today is based on the awarenessof “our own language” and “our own culture”. Frequently, the need to understand the different forms ofidentity starts with some trivial matters and eternal questions like “who am I and who are we”, “wheredo we come from and why are we going this way‘, etc. And then, with today’s answers to thosequestions, we look at the ethnic and cultural features of our group or nation, turn again to the historicalcircumstances related to our individual or group road in time, analyze the symbolic and cultural formsthat express a specific social time or processes.

At this point, we live in a unique socio-historic situation. The ever more intense globalization andunification of separate cultures on the one hand, and the ever more diverse opportunities of segmentationof communities on the other, make our perceptions of ourselves and others ever more brittle andvulnerable.

According to G. Balandier’s correct formula, “cultural differences in the world are manifested morestrongly and become more dangerous exactly when people and groups get closely together and not whenthey are apart”. We all should learn the difficult lessons of living wisely together. Naturally, that comeswith the old or new questions – who are we and where are we going today, yesterday and tomorrow.Help comes from everything hiding behind the characteristics of “national”, that defines the relativepeculiarity of a specific culture, its historical way and the interaction of this culture with other cultures.This, in turn, determines its “identification” or “self-identification” which is impossible without theawareness of the “generalized subject” of cultural and historical processes in the development of worldculture and communication in the common cultural space.

Is there a nation absolutely deprived of culture? This burning and much debated question was asked bythe German philosopher Herder in the introduction of his famous essay “Ideas to human philosophy”.The author gives the answer that every nation not only has a culture but it gives its culture as acontribution to the world’s cultural treasury and history.

Where then lies the code of communication among different cultures?

In the opinion of Kagan, it lies in art. Defining art as “isomorphic to the culture it belongs to”, heproposes a “culture model” with two main functions: the first one is “to be an awareness of culture” andthe second one is to be a “code” in the process of communication among different cultures. At the sametime, the author says that many of the ethnic features of each culture “are imprinted in art with a certainindependence of its historical changes”. Thus they give art and, through it, culture itself a degree of“sustainability, stability and conservatism”. Just as the history of each ethnic culture is a process ofinteraction between centrifugal and centripetal forces, of self-assertion, self-preservation and even offormation of a culture in dramatic conflicts with other cultures or direct contacts with them, so artalways expresses the unity of all these tendencies. Its history within the framework of a specific ethnicculture reflects the “inner laws” of this culture and its development, the laws of “its interactions with




other ethnic cultures”, “the levels of its internationalism and its nationalism and the dynamics of thesetwo levels”.

Today, more than ever, art takes into consideration the overall national and global cultural atmosphere.And culture is the life quality of history, of that modern history which includes both the massifiedscientific and technical revolution and the deep crisis of all public structures. Art has never been a mirrorimage of society, it is a “prophet or a mourner” but in way it is a direct participant in the historic processand not only a passive result of it. For instance, a social crisis is not always a crisis in art. Sometimes,however, these two crises are more or less synchronous. The explanations are probably different but,one way or another, they have their impact on the ideas of modern individuals and social groups aboutthe elemental power of history. It was during the latest years that we lost the proud feeling that “peopleconsciously create history”. Against this background, art remains one of the few possible direct links ofcultural contacts among different countries and a direct mediator between everything created by “own”and “foreign”.

Culture as a sphere or business or a pluralistic dialogue?

Global culture in the 20th century acquired a new function – a sphere of a new business: the business ofcultural products. But cultural products in commodity production have some features of their own.Business laws act differently when creative and artistic work is used. Culture is related to labor quality.Labor productivity in art is not measured by quantity produced per unit of time but by the quality of theproduct itself. The exchange value of the product of culture as a commodity is determined by its artisticqualities and its moral and aesthetic value. It is also directly dependent on market conditions. Whencommodity production became an overall form of social and economic relations, spiritual production,and especially production of art, was also involved in it. An issue of social progress came to be the scaleand speed of penetration of commodity production laws into spiritual life and the inclusion in this sphereof this specific and privileged human activity, often related to some special qualities of the chosen few.In the opinion of Benjamin, only within half a century – from the end of the 19th to the first three or fourdecades of the 20th century – the cultural situation was changed: a number of cultural activities wentinto the sphere of capital – newspapers, printing and publishing houses, big entertainmentestablishments. Capital made its most candid union with cinema. High profitability became the basis oftop-modern forms of organization in the sphere of culture.

In the second half of the 20th century, all cultural activities became more directly linked to themechanisms of growing international cultural business. With the European integration and the scientificand technical revolution, the national and trans-national forms of monopolistic capitalism, joined by thestate, radically changed the conditions of the creative process and of the dissemination and perceptionof spiritual values. A significant part of cultural activity was transformed into a sphere of the so called“cultural industries”’.

Film and TV studios, magazines, newspapers, publishing houses, record labels, impresario agencies,copyright agencies, international festivals, show markets, etc. – all these fell neatly under the control oftransnational corporations.

When profitability was high, capital was directed to culture which was considered in the past a sphereuncorrupted by material interest. Many facts show that in many countries culture is a favored area ofcapital investment, although the global economic crisis tells us the opposite.

“Business seeks culture not out of vanity, it is attracted not by its gloss and social prestige but by itsqualities as a profitable market. Profit is the only attractive motif for monopoly capital to go intoculture.” Where no money is made, no matter how tempting, like in ballet, opera, art galleries, museums,




etc., businessmen prefer to maintain another type of relations and leave to the state the obligation tofund, protect and develop them.

THE 20TH CENTURY MASS CULTURE AND ITS IMPACT ON THE WORLD CULTURALFUND.The concept of mass culture emerged first in the USA around the 30-ies of the 20th century. In mostcases mass culture means “the cultural products, policies and views formed by the leisure timeindustries, communications and mass production of low aesthetic qualities and artistic value of cultureindustries”. Fortunately, mass culture includes also some higher forms of modern and classic culture.That is why its interpretation is ambiguous and can have different meanings.

In this line of thinking, the mist important question is: what is the impact of mass culture on theindividual and what is the extent of its influence.

In the opinion of some eminent minds, “mass culture is intrusive, its audience is isolated fromparticipation in the cultural processes and given the passive role of consumers and not of creators”/Edgar Morin/. At the same time, the diversity of mass culture gives us options to choose from, whichcreates an illusion of free search and desired result of meeting our needs.

For society mass culture is a surrogate and secondary production whose only purpose is profit andsatisfaction of basic needs. Culture that uses cheap templates and smothers any independence, creativityand public activity turns the individual into a passive consumer.

The overall assessment made byof culture experts, politicians, sociologists and philosophers is negative.Mass culture is identified as pseudo-culture - a not particularly cultured layer on the surface of modernculture but separate from it.

Edgar Morin points out that mass culture is integrated in the poly-cultural reality of society, it obeys butit also controls and censors it and tries to erode and contaminate other cultures. In this sense it is notabsolutely autonomous and it penetrates into the national culture from the religious and civic culture.20th century mass culture is considered to be “cosmopolitan in its essence and global in its distribution.It poses new problems, being the first universal culture in the history of mankind” /Edgar Morin/. Itcauses enormous damage to national cultures that “imbibe it”.

Mass culture creates a universal template which is successfully imposed on both our historic past and our lookinto the future. These imprints on human understanding of the world outline the desired utopian present. Alongwith its negative qualities, mass culture has other qualities which are related to some real values ofmodern and classic culture. It should not be regarded only from its commercial point of view because itcan also offer significant pieces of art and higher forms of artistic creation. We should not underestimateits aesthetic aspects and the use of its communicative capacities and its power of impact. Besides that,for some categories of the population, although insufficient, it is the only means to satisfy their interests.Mass culture is a fruit of mankind and its communication links.

FINANCING OF CULTURE AS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR OF INTERCULTURALCOMMUNICATION.Financing of culture is a major aspect of modern society’s reproductive activity. The current status ofculture is determined by economy and reported by many international organizations. Business in culture




has large proportions. There are many huge international companies in the sphere of culture. They eitherengage in cultural production, or include cultural activities in their conglomerates, or have significantperformance in the spheres of science, information or cultural services of their main production, ormaintain active connections with cultural institutions, either directly or through foundations establishedby them. The monopolies that play a major part on the global cultural market are well known.

Not only big corporations but the state itself assists in the integration of culture in the development ofcapital and society. The state is the main trade partner but also a big manufacturer and owner. As a majorinvestor, it steers in this direction a certain percentage of the national income on the basis of the statebudget. That enables it to influence the cultural processes in society.

We should certainly not forget the relative independence of cultural processes and the fact that they arenot automatically determined by economic development. In agreement with the opinion of Losev, wecan admit that the periods of bloom of spiritual culture do not directly concur with the periods ofeconomic and technical progress. On the contrary, they are often in conflict.

The increasing role of culture in our lives is one of the main features of modern times. The issues ofculture, its funding and development today are becoming a major pivot of international cultural relationsand intercultural communication.

INTERDEPENDENCE OF CULTURES.

Modern world is based on complex relations between countries and nations, regions and continents ofeconomic, political, cultural, ecological, or demographic character and relations between different socialsystems. The status of dependence and globality of these social interrelations nowadays is raised to thelevel of such intensity that no country could develop autonomously and independently of the others. Anexample of this interdependence is the growing community of states within the European Union, thecontacts of Europe with the USA, Japan, the developing countries, the new industrial countries and theworld at large. In the sphere of culture, these are the relations within the world culture, between thecultures of the different countries and groups of countries, all marked by common cultural traits anddestiny - language, religion, past, neighborhood, ethnic origin, etc. – of regions, civilizations and socialsystems.

REFERENCE

Aneas, M & Sandín, M 2009, Intercultural and Cross-Cultural Communication Research: SomeReflections about Culture and Qualitative Methods, Forum: qualitative social research, vol. 10, no. 1,http://www.qualitative-research.net

Morin E 2001, Mass culture. Q: original to prank: sociological models, Sofia, p.165

Morin E 2002, Dialogue sur la connaissance. Entretiens avec des lycéens (entretiens conçus et animéspar Alfredo Pena-Vega et Bernard Paillard), La Tour d’Aigues, L’Aube, p. 70.

Morin E 2002, Pour une politique de civilisation, Paris: Arléa, p. 78.

Morin E 2003, Les Enfants du ciel : entre vide, lumière, matière (avec Michel Cassé), Paris: Odile Jacob,p. 142

Morin E 2006, Itinérance, Arléa, transcription d'un entretien avec Marie-Chritine Navarro en 1999 surFrance-Culture, retraçant sa carrière.




Morin E 2009, Crises, CNRS, Débats (5 novembre 2009)

Morin E 2010, Comment vivre en temps de crise? (avec Patrick Viveret), Bayard Centurion p. 91

Morin E 2011, La Voie: Pour l'avenir de l'humanité, Paris: Fayard, 307 p. ISBN 9782213655604

Morin E 2011, Dialogue sur la connaissance : Entretiens avec des lycéens, Editions de l'Aube, p. 69

O,Sullivan, T, Hartley, J, Saunders, D, Montgomery, M & Fiske, J 1994, Key Concepts inCommunication and Cultural Studies, London, www.ymerleksi.wikispaces.com




A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR APPLYING LEAN MANAGEMENT

METHODOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONSYacov Kedem

Mofet Institute, Tel-Aviv, Israel

Shenkar College for Engineering and Design, Ramat-Gan, Israel

AbstractOver the last two decades, the organizational environment of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) inmany countries, has fundamentally changed. Student numbers have continuously increased since the1980s and transformed Higher Education (HE) from an exclusive offering for a small elite to a massproduct. Consequently, universities had to increasingly deal with operations management issues suchas capacity planning and efficiency. In order to enable this expansion and as means to facilitatecompetition, the funding structure of HEI's has changed. Greater reliance on tuition fees and industry-funded research exposed universities to the forces of the market.

All in all, growth, commercialization and competition have transformed HEI's from publicly funded cosyelite institutions to large professional service operations with more demanding customers.Consequently, they increasingly look at private sector management practices to deal with the risingperformance pressure.

During the last two decades, Lean Management has received the reputation as a reliable method forachieving performance improvements by delivering higher quality at lower costs. From its origins inmanufacturing, Lean has spread first to the service sector and is now successfully adopted by anincreasing number of public sector organizations. Paradoxically, the enthusiasm for Lean in HE has sofar been limited.

A conceptual framework for applying Lean Management methodology in HEI's is presented in thispaper.

Key words: Higher Education, competition, performance improvement, lean management

1. CONTEXT AND JUSTIFICATION OF THE TOPIC

Over the last two decades, the organizational environment of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) inmany countries, has fundamentally changed (Deem et al. 2007; Economist 2005, 2010): First, studentnumbers have continuously increased since the 1980s and transformed Higher Education (HE) from anexclusive offering for a small elite to a mass product. Consequently, universities had to increasinglydeal with operations management issues such as capacity planning and efficiency. Second, in order toenable this expansion and as means to facilitate competition, the funding structure of HEI's was changed.Greater reliance on tuition fees and industry-funded research exposed universities to the forces of themarket. Third, the globalization of HE and research unleashed a fierce competition for internationalstudents and academic staff. Especially international postgraduate students paying overseas fees havebecome an important but contested source of income and most universities have set up special marketingdepartments. Finally, the New Public Management (NPM) reforms of the 1980s and 1990s (Pollitt &




Bouckaert 2004) increased the accountability of HEI's through quality standards, external audits andleague tables and established a performance-based competition for shrinking government funds.

All in all, growth, commercialization and competition have transformed HEI's from publicly fundedcosy elite institutions to large professional service operations with more demanding customers.Consequently, they increasingly look at private sector management practices to deal with the risingperformance pressure – an indication for that is the growing number of HE management handbooks (seee.g. McCaffery 2004; Toma 2010). However, so far there has been no dominant approach or “silverbullet".

For instance, attempts to apply TQM in a university-context have been rather disappointing (Emiliani2005).

During the last two decades, Lean Management has received the reputation to be a “silver bullet” forachieving dramatic performance improvements by delivering higher quality at lower costs (Womack &Jones 2003, 2005). From its origins in manufacturing, Lean has spread first to the service sector and isnow successfully adopted by an increasing number of public sector organizations (Radnor et al. 2006).Paradoxically, the enthusiasm for Lean in HE has so far been limited. Most business schools seem toprefer giving advice to other organizations rather than applying their Lean competence to their owninstitutions (Hines & Lethbridge 2008). Nevertheless, a few pioneering universities have embarked onthe Lean journey. Balzer (2010) reports several projects in the US, but his and the few other availableaccounts remain rather uncritical and descriptive. They are largely based on anecdotal evidence.

2. LEAN METHODOLOGY BACKGROUND: FROM LEAN PRODUCTION TO LEANTHINKINGThe concept that is today known as Lean has its origins at the shop floors of Japanese car plants (Liker2004). After the end of WW2, the Japanese economy suffered from a scarcity of (qualified) labor, capitaland raw materials. Even worse, it was threatened by the dominant position of the big US producers,whose sophisticated mass production systems1 were able to realize significant economies of scale(Cusumano 1985). However, traditional mass production had its own problems, namely poor quality,high (capital) costs and inflexibility regarding product volume and variety (Monden 1983; Ohno 1988).Turning the obstacle of constrained resources into competitive advantage, Toyota developed aproduction system that was superior to Western mass production as it met demand instantaneously andperfectly, i.e. with less inventory and defects, and that allowed low costs and high product varietyalready at low volumes (Seddon 2005).

However, it is important to note, that the development of the Toyota Production System (TPS) was nota single-point intervention (Holweg 2007; Liker 2004). As early as 1948, Taiichi Ohno, who is todayseen as the intellectual father of Lean, started to experiment with new production concepts in the Toyotaengine machining shop, he was managing (Ohno 1988). From there, it took more than a decade todevelop an integrated production system and implement it at other Toyota production sites. It was notbefore the late 1960s that the TPS was rolled out to Toyota's suppliers and also other Japanese producersstarted to adopt some of its features (Fujimoto 1999). Also, the extension of the TPS from its originalfocus on manufacturing processes to other areas of the company such as New Product Development(NPD) and sales did not start until the early 1980s (Womack & Jones 2003). All in all, it can be saidthat the TPS emerged from a process of continuous experimentation and refinement.




The Western world only started to pay attention in the late 1970s, when the superiority of the Japaneseautomobile producers became threatening for its American and European rivals. The first Englishjournal article on the TPS, published in 1977 by Toyota engineers (Sugimori et al. 1977, hereafterreferred to as Sugimori paper), defined its two building blocks as “reduction of cost through eliminationof waste” (ibid: 554) by leveling production, slashing inventories and preventing errors to establish acontinuous one-piece flow and as making “full use of the workers‟ capabilities” (ibid) by entrustingthem with the running and improvement of the plant. However, despite the early availability of Englishliterature (see also Shingo 1981; Monden 1983), it took Western business leaders more than a decade tofully embrace the underlying reasons for the widening performance gap. Holweg (2007) ascribes thislargely to the highly technical focus and language and weak empirical foundations of these earlyaccounts. But also to the reluctance of many Western companies to accept that their problems werehomemade has to be noted (Womack & Jones 2003).

The critical incidence that triggered a sudden and widespread rise in awareness was the publication ofthe well-known book “The Machine that Changed the World” (Womack et al. 1990). It summarized thefindings of a major global benchmarking study of automobile plants that was conducted by the MIT'sInternational Motor Vehicle Program (IMVP) since 1985. The high impact of “the Machine” was notonly due to the fact that it was based on hard empirical data that clearly showed significant productivitydifferences between the Japanese producers and their American and European rivals. Its non-technicallanguage and style as well as its comprehensive overview the Japanese production system that for thefirst time included further aspects such as Supply Chain Management and NPD appealed to a largemanagerial audience (Holweg 2007). Originally coined by IMVP researcher John Krafcik (1988), thebook also popularized the catchy term “Lean production”, as a defining feature of the Japanese plantswas that they used less of everything – materials, space, labor and inventory.

However, the concept of Lean production only marked the beginning of the Lean evolution. Hines et al.(2004) describe how the Western perception of Lean has gradually evolved and gained sophistication.2Due to the temporary oblivion of the Sugimori paper and its extraordinarily concise and far-reachingdefinition (New 2007), the early Lean understanding was relatively narrow and confined to the adoptionof a few isolated shop floor tools. The focus then continuously widened to an understanding of Lean asa holistic manufacturing system. This system thinking stressed the strategic alignment of all elementsof the production system to better meet customer demand (Seddon 2005). Eventually, the strategicessence of “Lean thinking” (Womack & Jones 1996, 2003) or “Lean behavior” (Emiliani 1998) wasextracted and it was argued from a contingency perspective (Donaldson 1996) that the resulting Leancore principles can be adapted to the specific circumstances of different organizations and industries.These conceptual foundations are discussed in the next section.

3. CONTIGENCIES: LEAN SERVICESThere is a long debate whether or not manufacturing and service operations can be managed based onthe same concepts (Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons 2008). While some stress the significance of distinctiveservice features such as customer involvement and labor intensity (Schlesinger & Heskett 1991;Grönroos 1990), Levitt (1972) argues that this should not be an excuse for avoiding manufacturingconcepts as a means of increasing the efficiency of service operations. Somewhere in between, Johnston(1994; see also Åhlström 2004) suggests that services can benefit from operations management'straditional focus on performance improvement if concepts and tools are adapted to their specificorganizational context.




There is empirical evidence that Lean thinking can be applied to service companies. Case studiescomprise airlines, fast food restaurants, insurances and hospitals (Bowen & Youngdahl 1998; Swank2003; Åhlström 2004) and report cost savings of 15% to 25% and lead-time reductions (Goland et al.1998). However, a closer look at these examples for Lean services reveals significant limitations. First,most cases refer to manufacturing-like repetitive service processes that have been described as massservices (Johnston & Clark 2008), with no evidence for Lean implementation in professional services.Second, some case studies are based on ex-post rationalization. For instance, Bowen and Youngdahl(1998) assert that Southwest Airlines and the Shouldice Hospital – both well known through HarvardBusiness School case studies – maintain Lean operations. While it might be true that some of theiroperational principles closely resemble Lean thinking, neither of the both organizations has announcedthat it pursues Lean implementation. Third, even where service companies deliberately embarked on theLean journey, their application of Lean principles and methods often remains superficial andfragmented. E.g. Swank's (2003) case on application processing in an insurance company does not gobeyond process standardization. Fourth and similar, in all reported cases, Lean implementation remainedlimited to bits and pieces of the company's value chain.

Consequently, it still seems to be early days for Lean services and there remains some theoreticalgroundwork to be done. There is an increasing number of conceptual works and practical guidelinesthat try to apply Lean thinking to a service environment (see e.g. Bicheno 2008, Seddon 2005, Seddon& O'Donovan 2010a, 2010b). According to these accounts, a context-sensitive Lean implementationneeds to address a couple of special features of service operations:

First, value creation depends largely on the customer's perception of his interactions with the ServiceDelivery System (SDS) – the so-called “moments of truth” (Normann 2000). This has implications forthe distinction between VA and NVA, as value is not only affected by objective service outcomes butalso by subjective perceptions (Zeithaml & Bitner 2003). Certain activities that might not seem valueadding with regards to service performance might be important for the experience of at least somecustomers (Åhlström 2004), e.g. face-to-face service as compared to telephone or online service.

Second, due to customer involvement and the intangible character of their offerings, many serviceoperations face higher complexity and variation of customer demand. While manufacturers offer apredefined set of products, service providers often have to deal with unexpected requests (Seddon 2005).Bicheno (2008) proposes to systematically analyze demand patterns and introduces the distinctionbetween “runners”, “repeaters” and “strangers” based on the frequency of a service request. Whereas“strangers” should be dealt with on an ad-hoc basis, the organization can install dedicated proceduresfor “runners” and “repeaters”.

Third, Lean needs to understand the different sources of variability in service processes. Usualstandardization approaches might help to tackle internal process variability that is induced by the SDSor staff. However, due to the simultaneity of production and consumption all service processes are alsoexposed to customer-introduced variability that is difficult to control (Bicheno 2008), e.g. differentaptitude levels or different expectations and inquiries. Therefore, Lean in service operations shouldfocus on making the process resilient and capable, rather than pursuing an ideal state of perfect customercompliance (Åhlström 2004; Seddon 2005).

Fourth, employee empowerment is the key to improving process capability and resilience. Staff must beenabled to respond spontaneously and adequately while interacting with the customer (Åhlström 2004).Consequently, there should be constraints to the use of standard work in Lean services. While serviceblueprints and guidelines might be a great support for staff, especially when dealing with “runners” and“repeaters” (Bicheno 2008; Shostack 1984), tight mandatory standard operating procedures can lead to




a situation where the system makes it impossible for the individual employee to meet customer demand(Deming 1986), e.g. scripts and time limits that prevent call centre agents from solving a customerproblem during a single call.

Finally, as services are always made-to-order because they cannot be stored, the Lean principle of pullhas a different meaning. Pull in service operations means avoiding “inventories of customers” waitingfor their service (Seddon 2005). It aims at replacing traditional queue management with a JIT serviceprovision through new innovative ways of capacity management as well as visual management devicesthat provide the customer with clear information about the current status of the SDS (Bowen &Youngdahl 1998).

To sum up, defining value and managing variability is more difficult in service operations. Moreover,employee empowerment is critical. Regarding the Lean toolbox, most of the process-related techniquessuch as VSM seem to be applicable in a service environment, while other tools such as kan-ban pull orstandard work are either meaningless or might even be counterproductive (Seddon 2005; Staats & Upton2007). This might explain why service operations have so far struggled with fully adapting the Leanprinciples and methods to their organizational routines – most examples for Lean services closelyresemble conventional process optimization.

4. RESEARCH GAP: LEAN IN HIGHER EDUCATION

HE is a very special part of the public sector with its own modus operandi (Allen & Fifield 1999). Atleast the academic areas of HEI's are characterized by a highly individualistic organizational culture thatstresses professional autonomy (Tierney 1988). In addition, especially in older universities, the schoolsor colleges enjoy a considerable degree of freedom regarding their organization and often maintainstructures that duplicate the university's administrative directorates and units (Dopson & McNay 1996),e.g. in areas such as student support or marketing. Moreover, decision-making in HEI's is lesshierarchical than in the core administration and often based on collegial consent (Dahlgaard &Østergaard 2000). This facilitates “incrementalism” (Lindblom 1959), i.e. only small changes thatlargely maintain the status quo. Finally, also the long-standing tradition of many universities preservesanachronistic structures and processes. Even though there are remarkable differences between HEI'swith regards to organizational culture, e.g. between “pre-1992” and “post-1992” universities (Deem etal. 2007), all this contributes to a remarkable resistance to change (Engelkemeyer 1993).

On the other hand, the increasing environmental pressures on universities, described at length in theintroduction, force them to embrace large-scale change to improve their competitiveness. Just to recap,due to growing reliance on tuition fees, industry research grants and the global competition for studentsand academic staff, HE is much more exposed to the forces of market than other areas of the publicsector. This leads to an interesting situation, in which radical change is both more necessary but alsomore difficult to achieve as compared to the core administration.

Lean is still a relatively new approach to HE reform. Only during the last 5-8 years universities andcolleges began to experiment with Lean principles. The overwhelming majority of cases covered in theliterature are from the US where most HEI's always operated in a competitive market environment andthus are more open to private sector management practices (Owlia & Aspinwall 1997). However, thequality of this literature is rather poor. Most of it falls under the category of grey literature, e.g. severalonline papers with rather anecdotal evidence (Moore et al. n.d.; Alp n.d.; Kusler n.d., see also Jin &Kachroo 2010). In these accounts, the authors praise the success of their own Lean projects but remainvery vague with regards to the applied Lean approach and the quantitative outcomes. One conference




paper (Barroso et al. 2010) and a monograph (Balzer 2010) summarize these accounts in a ratheruncritical and naïve manner without making their own investigations. The few scholarly articles on thetopic remain purely theoretical (Dahlgaard & Østergaard 2000) or put every type of reform activity inHE under the Lean heading (Comm & Mathaisel 2005a, 2005b) – again an example of ex-postrationalization.

In March 2011, Radnor and Bucci (2011) published an explanatory study on Lean implementation inUK business schools and universities. Their findings are an invaluable first step to develop a betterunderstanding of if and how Lean can be applied in a HE context and will be discussed below. However,they do neither come up with a systematic theoretical model to conceptualize Lean projects from anorganizational change perspective nor do they derive recommendations for an implementationframework that is tailored to the specific HE setting – their reflections remain fairly generic. Mostimportant, the study is based on a rather weak empirical foundation. On average, only one interview wasconducted per analyzed university. Furthermore, all interviewees were either involved in the initiationof Lean at their university or acted as facilitators of Lean projects and thus have vested interests in asuccessful evaluation, which raises problems of interviewee bias (Kvale & Brinkmann 2008). Theperspective of managers and staff working in the “leaned” processes was not included. Summarizing thesparse literature on “lean universities”, and drawing mainly on Radnor and Bucci‟s (2011) groundwork,it seems like the conditions for Lean implementation in HE are somehow similar to those in the widerpublic sector. The understanding of Lean principles and methods as reflected in the reported projectsseems to be fragmented. Again the focus is on process optimization, even though the “human aspect”,i.e. rising performance pressure instead of employee empowerment, seems to be less a problem.However, it is striking that most analyzed projects are concerned with support processes (e.g. payroll,procurement, maintenance) or the administrative parts of core processes (e.g. admission and studentadministration), with only one case reported where Lean was applied to the organization of academiccourses (Emiliani 2004, 2005). Furthermore, most optimization activities seem to focus on a few isolated(parts of) processes, with little evidence for an integrated overall coordination.

5. CONCEPTUAL MODEL: A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING ANDIMPLEMENTING LEAN MANGEMENTThere is no doubt that more empirical research is needed to gain a better understanding of the role andrelevance of Lean in HE management. Moreover, it is interested in the impact of the initiatives as wellas the mediating effect of critical success factors and barriers to change. To systemically analyze theseaspects, this section develops a framework for conceptualizing Lean implementation that will refine andoperationalize its building blocks (Eisenhardt 1989).

Motives: Why?

Decoding the motives of Lean implementation involves three aspects – understanding the (1) projectdrivers and (2) objectives as well as the (3) decision for Lean as optimization method.

In the private sector, the main driver for “going Lean” is usually the desire to improve competitiveness,often sparked by a crisis (Womack & Jones 2003). Compared to that, Lean implementation in the publicsector is more driven by government efficiency programs and budget cuts (Radnor et al. 2006) – aneternal topic.

In manufacturing companies, the tangible objectives of Lean initiatives are normally to reduce inventoryand lead times and to boast productivity and quality. In a service context, the inventory dimension is




either meaningless or less important and quality focuses on customer perception and experience (Seddon2005). In addition, Lean initiatives in the public sector often have to put less emphasis on staffreductions.

Regarding the decision for the optimization method, Lean has to compete with alternative approachessuch as TQM, Six Sigma or more recently Agile (Hallgren &Olhager 2009). However, based on theincreasing number of successful examples, Lean is often regarded as a particularly well-provenapproach. Drawing on best practice might be appropriate for manufacturing companies. However,service operations in the private and public sector need to consider the contingencies of Leanimplementation and the rationale of their decisions to “go lean” is only poorly understood.

Addressing these aspects with regards to Lean in HE, leads to the following five questions, to which theanalysis and attempt to formulate an organizational wide response, can be the basis for a conceptualframework of implementation:

Q1) Why do universities apply Lean principles to their work?

a. To which external and internal drivers do their initiatives respond?

b. What are the initiatives‟ key objectives?

c. Why did they choose Lean as an optimization method?

Approach: How and where?

If Lean thinking is first and foremost a dynamic capability, then developing a context-sensitiveinterpretation and translation of the generic Lean principles and methods is key to its successfulimplementation. This implies two central aspects: the (1) applied Lean tools and techniques and the (2)scope or application range.

Lean production provides manufacturers with a fully developed and well-attuned set of tools toimplement the five Lean principles and the two Lean methods. While it is widely accepted that Leanservices require a different toolbox, it is less clear how exactly the Lean principles and methods shouldbe adapted to the specific service context. The reported cases for Lean implementation in (public) serviceoperations, with their focus on VSM and Rapid Improvement Events (RIE), are hard to distinguish fromconventional process optimization pepped up with some root cause analysis. In its current state, Leanservices is not the revolutionary overhaul of classic service management principles that Lean productionhas been to manufacturing theory.

Scope or application range refers to the question to which of the organization's units or processes Leanshould be applied, or more precisely where to start using Lean, as full implementation is almost alwaysthe ultimate goal. Implementation strategies can vary significantly between organizations. Twocontrasting ideal types (Weber 1968) have been described to illustrate the width of the spectrum (Dennis2006; Bicheno 2008; Radnor et al. 2006): While the emergent bottom-up approach (“Lean Light”) relieson a sequence of a few separate small-scale projects and tries to gradually gain momentum, the holistictop-down approach (“System Lean”) is basically a centrally initiated major change initiative starting ata strategic level by identifying the end-to-end processes of value creation in order to prioritize areas ofimprovement. Most organizations fall somewhere in between these both extremes and can also changetheir position over time, i.e. either start small and later make the link to strategy or slowly phase outcentral coordination once change has become self-reinforcing. However, the available case studiessuggest that the more radical “System Lean” strategy is easier to implement in the private sector andthat the public sector relies heavily on more or less disjointed pilot projects (Radnor et al. 2006).




Q2) How is Lean defined for the purpose of the universities' initiatives?

a. Which of the Lean principles are applied?

b. Which tools and techniques are used to implement Lean?

Q3) Where is Lean implemented in the universities?

a. Is Lean only applied to support processes or also to the core processes of teaching and research?

b. Does implementation strategy follow an emergent bottom-up or a holistic top-down pattern?

Implementation: With/ against what?

When analyzing the underlying success factors of Lean implementation, most authors point to the usualwell-known elements of effective change management (Kotter 1996), namely (1) awareness that changeis necessary, the (2) capacity to deal with change and a (3) supportive organizational culture.

In general, an organization's awareness of change requirements is a function of its exposure to anddependence on its external environment, e.g. customer needs or expectations of financial markets.Further drivers of awareness are top management involvement and professional internal communicationthat create a sense of urgency.

Change capacity depends mainly on the resources and capabilities organizations (can) commit to theiroptimization projects. This includes internal or external Lean expertise, the availability of a dedicatedproject management structure as well as senior and middle management commitment. Based on anunderstanding of Lean as dynamic learning capability, creating this change capacity is not only anenabler to Lean implementation but also an end in itself.

Most important, but also difficult to capture and address, is the existence of a supportive organizationalculture. This comprises general aspects such as openness towards new ideas, mutual trust and staffinvolvement as well Lean specific issues, e.g. process-based thinking, focus on customer value orcontinuous improvement.

Radnor et al. (2006) summarize these enablers and barriers to Lean implementation under the conceptof “organizational readiness”. All in all, the specific public sector characteristics that have beenidentified above seem to indicate a lower level of “organizational readiness” within publicadministration as compared to the private sector (see also Yasin & Wafa 2002).

Q4) Which are the critical success factors and barriers to change for Lean implementation in HE?How strong are they?a. How strong is the universities‟ awareness of change requirements?

b. How large is their change capacity?

c. Does the universities‟ specific organizational culture support or impede Lean implementation

Impact: What for?

The impacts of Lean implementation can be structured along two dimensions: Effects can be either (1)quantitative or qualitative and might occur either (2) intended or unintended.

Empirical evidence from the manufacturing sector suggests that Lean production actually delivers on itspromises of revolutionary improvements. Based on several case studies, Womack and Jones (2003; seealso AME 2008) state that already the initial phase of Lean implementation typically doubles laborproductivity, cuts lead times and inventories by 90% and reduces errors, scrap and job-related




inventories by half. Furthermore, Lean implementation seems to facilitate cultural change towardscontinuous improvement. With regards to unintended effects, manufacturers implementing Lean oftenreport substantial cash flow improvements due to lower levels of working capital tied up in inventory.Moving from manufacturing via for-profit services to public administration, the magnitude of thereported quantitative and qualitative impacts is gradually decreasing. Also the data basis gets weaker asthere seems to be less systematic quantitative impact assessment. While still significant, performanceimprovements through Lean implementation in (public) services are less revolutionary compared tothose reported for Lean production (see e.g. Radnor 2006). In addition, especially in the public sector,Lean implementation is confronted with unintended negative effects on staff satisfaction, as it issometimes perceived as a means of rigid standardization and increased performance pressure.

Q5) What are the results of the universities‟ Lean initiatives?

a. What are the quantitative impacts on performance in terms of lead times, quality and cost-efficiency?

b. What are qualitative impacts on terms of cultural change?

c. Did the impacts achieve the original objectives? Which unintended outcomes occurred?

6. CONCLUSION

While it is important to note that in reality every organization is different, i.e. features a specific set ofresources, capabilities and environmental pressures, it still seems possible to make some simplifyinggeneralization with regards to the organizational context. Put simply and applying the suggestedconceptual model, for-profit manufacturing operations applying Lean seem to have the clearest motivestructure and can draw on a well-attuned Lean toolkit. Together with a high level of “organizationalreadiness”, this translates into substantial quantitative and qualitative impacts. On the other end of thespectrum, performance improvements in the public sector are less revolutionary as organizations haveto struggle with methodological problems and several barriers to change.

However, the above mentioned changes in the Higher Education external environment and marketplace,require senior management of HEI's to evaluate all modern performance measurement and improvementapproaches, especially Lean Management, to ensure continuous improvement, efficiency and increasedstakeholder satisfaction

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INTERACTION MODELS AT INTEGRATION OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL

EDUCATIONAL NEEDSPoliksenia Tzv. Kissimova

Sofia University Saint Climent Ohridski

Abstract

The article attempts a comparative analysis of two models for integration of children with specialeducational needs (SEN). From one side the subsidiary school as an organizer of the integrativeprocesses and a donor of teachers-specialists and from the other side – the Resource Center as anorganization affording a diagnostic activity, pedagogical and psychological support for children andstudents with SEN. The need of a parallel existing of both institutions is based.

Key words: a special education, an integrative education

In Bulgaria as a member of the United Europe as well as in European and world practice real changesin the specialized education pass. The conception “A School for Everyone” which expresses itself intothe placing of equal chances for access to the education for all the children, including these ones withmental disabilities is established. According the Convention of the United Nations Organizations (UNO)for the children rights States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child isprotected against all forms of discrimination”. The right of the child with mental and physical disabilitiesto lead a full life by ensuring an effective access and getting education and rehabilitation includingculture and spiritual one is granted. Nowadays the special education is directed to the complex influenceon the child’s personality for development of his or her mental and physical abilities and their potentialdisplaying.

In a period of transition from a traditional to a contemporary education of children with specialeducational needs, the pedagogues more and more realize their social and professional responsibility ateducation and development of these children realization. In a historical plan, we cannot avoid thepositive contribution of the special schools in which the idea about integration appears firstly. Duringmore than 200 years the special schools have been gathering a rich experience and influence positivelywhat can be seen in a row of aspects. Special methods for education and rehabilitation are worked out,professionals who to work with the children with special educational needs are trained and the specialpedagogic is differentiated as a detached scientific field. The special schools offer a differentiatededucation, comfortable to the kind and stage of the disabilities which the children have.During the lastfew years these schools have taken the educations and cares for the children with multiple disabilitiesby ensuring a supporting environment, comfortable to their specific needs. A professional orientationand preparation in a part of an appropriate job is ensured for the graduating students. The school teamsin the specialized school work out individual educational programs with a therapeutic purpose so thatthe children to be prepared for a self-dependant and independent life. Special technical devices necessaryfor the education, mode of life and professional activities for the students with SEN are ensured. Thespecialized schools proved that these children have real possibilities for education and development.The contribution of this kind of school’s influences positively on the development of the theory as well




as of the practice at educating different groups of children. The specialized schools put the basis of onehuman activity by continuing to develop in unison with the contemporary requirements.

We cannot deny however that in parallel with the contribution, these schools keep the children withspecial educational needs in some kind of isolation from their coevals. In this way, the view they are notthe same as the rest of the children having in mind everything for them is so special, is formed. So, thespecial schools even by objective reasons, turn into close communities with artificially protectedenvironment which is different from the reality. Realizing this fact, the contemporary schools aremodernized and aim finding the true way for development.

In a case they have not gotten information for special schools existing, the parents of children with SENnaturally first look at the possibilities their child to be educated in the nearest school of generaleducation. In this way, nearly a century after the first special schools appearing the idea for integrationwhich is supported even by the criticasters is born. The integrative education has been popularized veryhard, because of the imposed tendency of protectionism, patronizing and social protection. Thedevelopment of the integrative education offers a new alternative called normalization. This conceptionsupports the right of the children with SEN to live with their families in conditions of their natural socialenvironment.

The integration is considered as an adequate participation of people in the political, social and culturelife of the society. The successful integration is measured with the positive change in life quality of thechildren with SEN, in their accepting and equal in rights participation in the social life. The unsuccessfulintegration however leads to a number of negative consequences – decreasing of self-estimation,deprivation of the personality and a trend towards life in closed communities.

The existence of many definitions of the integrated education which put stress on its differentcomponents – a time spent in a normal class, interaction with children from the school of generaleducation and so on. V. Radulov defines it as “a contemporary education of children with specialpedagogical needs and healthy children in the nearest school by qualified support by a special tutor.”According to Ofenberg, in order to integrative education be available, the child should spend at least50% of the school time in a traditional classroom.

At the present moment a big variety of integrative models for educating exists. Many authors use alsothe term “infusion in the common stream” what is interpreted as a mutual education and interactionbetween children with SEN and their coevals in the general class. The specialists use the term “includingeducation” which puts the stress on the children with SEN accepting in the school of general education,without any limits.

The integrative education is not only some educational conception but a new educational policy whichgives the possibility for a choice between the special school and this one of general education too. Thatleads to a new school organization, a new social environment and a new kind of specialists andadministration. The school with general education takes the biggest part of the responsibility for thechildren with SEN education at the realization of the integrative education. To realize the idea “a schoolfor everybody”, the children with SEN must be included actively in the activity of the usual class. Atthis approach, we should help the child to adapt to the class not the opposite. That is included in theresource teacher’s who works in cooperation with the speech therapist, psychologist and the teacherfrom the school for general education obligations.

The fact that not every child with SEN is appropriate for integration should be kept in mind. The child’sage in which the early development and stimulating for acquaintance the world around in their sensitiveage easies the process of integration and it is of a great importance. The stage of disability in which the




children with a mild state of disabilities can be integrated in the environment of the general class shouldbe kept in mind. The children with an average and hard state of intellectual impairment are successfullytaught in the a contemporary subsidiary school where all the pedagogues are with the neededspecialization at which the speech therapist and the psychologist help the children additionally whenthere is such a need. The school team works out an individual educational program for each child witha moderate and hard state of backwardness or with multiple disabilities as the child’s achievements indifferent fields are measured with a five-degree scale. An individual work and a differentiate approachis realized as specific methods for work with children with autism are applied

The term “education” enlarged its sphere by accenting not so much the academic knowledge but thesocial and useful skills necessary for a daily life. At the preparation for an integrated education it isimportant to estimate the child’s possibilities for communication because the interaction with the generalteacher and its classmates depend on this. The resource teacher defines the way of communication inaccordance with the specific of the disability. It is necessary to form a real self-estimation andacceptance of the disability to be formed. If

the child is educated in accordance with the school program for the general education, he or she shouldreach the standards of for the certain class and to have the necessary level of academic knowledge andskills. The diagnosis of the child also influences when the decision for integration or for the educationin a special school should be made. The children who will be integrated should have a real idea aboutthe way in which the students in a general class study at the preparation for the integration. Whenintegration is about to happen the creative skills of the child in a certain field – music, sports, art inwhich the child’s talents have a positive influence for his or her acceptance in an general class are hadin mind too.

It is important to have in mind the starting-off point from which the child with SEN goes to the generalschool: from the specialized school, from his or her home, from the social institution or from the hospital.V. Radulov (1995) describes some models for integration as the contemporary models offer a mostflexible approach at integrative education applying. It is necessary to have in mind that the positivequalities of only one model should not be pointed and to state that it is the best one. In the frames of acounty a few models corresponding to the competitive conditions and pedagogical needs of the childrencan be applied. Some models are more effective for children with sensor disabilities integrations butothers – for children with intellectual impairment as some of the models are accepted by the ResourceCenter and others are applied by the subsidiary schools with a success. It is necessary that the specializedpedagogues along with the parents and the child with SEN to make the most appropriate choice havingin mind the particularities, possibilities and the needs of the child.

Some main factors influencing the predominating of one or some models exist in one county as thetraditions in the field of the special education which hard allow a total integration in the general schoolfrom the first grade. The educational legislation is also a main factor that determines the motion of theintegrative education. The particularities and the structure of the educational system and the adequateof the programs also influence the implementation of the transition from a special school to such withsuch of a general education. The material base and the presence of the prepared specialists are of a mainimportance. The idea of the integrated education should be accepted by the teachers and the managementof the general school in order to apply successfully the different models of integration. The socialsupport of the idea is of a great importance because of the fact that the parents should be informedthrough the media and to realize their right of choice treating the education with SEN.

One of the current tendencies in the special pedagogic is the early education at the child's home fromthe earliest infancy till the age of 5-6 in order to affect a comprehensive development of the child's




personality and possibly the child to be integrated into a regular kindergarten. In his or her integrationthe child adjusts to the new environment, by gradually increasing the time of staying in the setting andleads to full-time residence. All this applies also to the integration of the child in an elementary school,as here the emphasis is on the participation in the group's work, on the strategy for compensation, socialinteraction between children and partnership with parents.

The early influence and the child’s integration in the preschool age is positive with this that the childgoes to a regular school with a certain level of knowledge and skills what easies the integration. It is aneasy to apply model because the education at that age has no such a formal character and the interactionbetween the children is more natural and unaffected. The child is integrated in the regular educationalinstitution nearby the home as the resource teacher is on the pay-roll either to the resource center or tothe specialized school. At that case the specialized pedagogue fulfills the functions of a consultant forthe parents too.

The practice of the children with SEN at our country shows that when there is a good organization andunderstanding by the management of the kindergarten or the school and the teachers, the integration canbe successful especially for children who are borderline case, with a mild mental retardation or sensorydisabilities. Sometimes the parents or the teacher in the general school favor the child more than it isnecessary and the resource teacher must explain that is not favorable for the child’s development. Theintegrated children can participate sufficiently in a number of mutual activities with the healthy children– to sing, to draw, to partake in festivities. In this way both the children and the parents are convincedthat the integrated child is the same as the rest of the children.

The total integration is a model that foresees education in the general school from first grade.Theoretically this is the ideal model of integrations but it is hard and risky. At that case however it isgood for the specialized school to play a subsidiary role especially for the main subject in which it isallowed to the child to visit the lessons at the subsidiary school. This model supposes a very goodpreparation of the resource teacher who in the first year is necessary to help the child at a large degree.At that model the interaction with the parents who can keep the resource teacher’s job at home is of agreat importance too.

The model which is the most often offered for the initiative of the special school is integration at acertain school stage after completing the elementary or secondary course of education as the child keepsvisiting the general class. At that case the preparation for the integration is better and the child hasdefinitely a certain level of skills for independent life. When applying this model it is necessary to havea good interaction between the specialized school and this one of the general education.

Another model is the Canadian one with which the children who will be integrated are sent to the nearestto the special school for a certain trial period. During this period the student is observed by the resourceteacher of the specialized school as this period can last from one month to one scholastic year. If thechild adapts successfully they take second step – to quit the specialized school and to visit the generalone. This model supposes a good interaction between the resource teachers of the specialized schooland the resource center that takes the responsibility for education in the general school.

The model of the outer class consists in this that the general class is visited by the living in theneighborhood children with SEN who are a few in numbers. These outer classes facilitate the interactionbetween the both groups of children without their quitting of the specialized school. If the outer classesteach general teachers they get the possibility to get acknowledged with specifics of teaching thechildren with SEN. When specialized pedagogues teach, they can co operate for extending the socialcontacts between the students. It is necessary the parents of the healthy children to be positively




motivated to the specialized school as being explained that in the conditions of a small group theirchildren will have the possibility to get more attention by the teacher and from here – a more qualifiededucation.

The other model is this one of the combined integration. It spreads the English experience in the fieldof the integrated education in which the specialized school realizes a direct interaction with the generalone. Two specific models are developed – a Liverpool one and a Sheffield one. According to theLiverpool model the integrated students spend only the school hours and their self preparation is realizedin the specialized school. The resource teacher is in the role of an advisor who renders assistance and isresponsible for the visits at the general school. This model does not provide for intensive contacts withthe general school because the specialized schools takes completely the responsibility for the educationof the integrated students.

The Sheffield model represents a step ahead as the general school opens a resource room for non-residentteachers who realize a close cooperation between the specialized school and the general one and helpthe integrated students.

The common thing between these two models is the use of a specialized school as a base for integration.The difference is in the social approach as using the second model a closer relationship between thespecialized and the general teacher is realized, the contacts of the children with SEN and their coevalsis realized and the management of the general school is engaged with it.

The reverse integrative education is another famous model which is a exchange of groups of childrenbetween the specialized and the general school. The results of the made experiments show that isbeneficial for the both groups of children. The small group of integrated students gets to know theschooling process in a general class, they are motivated to present themselves well, their personal selfestimation and belief in their own possibilities increase and social contacts with their coevals are created.The healthy children also have benefits as in the conditions of the school class with a decreased numberin the specialized school because of the more often made control and attention of the children, theyincrease their achievements. In this way they extend their knowledge about the way in which the childrenwith SEN are thought, they get to know new for them technical means, they are taught to be tolerant andgive a mutual aid and they are convinced these children are the same as them. In order to apply thismodel successfully it is necessary to realize a good communication between the specialized school andthis one with a general education and the parents of the healthy children to agree. The reverse integrativeeducation offers one more possibility for an adequate interaction between the specialized and the generalschools.

The model of a partly integration provides for the child with SEN to get the opportunity to visit thegeneral school one day per week or two to three classes in the frames of one week. The practice in manycountries and the experiments which we have made show that this model is the most beneficial one forthe children with emotional derangement especially with the Down’s syndrome. Organizing an effectivevisit of the general school classes is often impeded but the classes in PE, Music and Art turn out to bebeneficial and very interesting. This model is appropriate for all the groups of children with SEN andrepresents an experience of overcoming of the social isolation.

Another model that has its adherences is special classes opening in the school of general education. Atthat model an impression that the integrated children with SEN visit the general school is created butthis is only formal. In fact, the specialized class stays closed for the rest of the children and puts theintegrated students in isolation again. During out-of-school time it is a little probable that social contactswill be realized because the children do not have a mutual education. The healthy children have




difficulties to understand the social aims because the social class was formed. What impresses is thechildren with disabilities are different because they are far removed. In this way the complexes of thechildren with SEN get deeper and this model turns out to be inappropriate. A similar integration isdefined as local. The next levels are social integration at which there are common activities between theintegrated and the healthy children and functional which represents a real mutual education.

One of the latest models of the integrated education is this one of the integrated classes. The researchesshow that this method is especially appropriate for children with mental intellectual impairment. Theessence of the model consists in this that a small group of four children with SEN who come along withthe specialized children joins the general class. The small group of integrated students has an educationaccording to the specialized programs while the general teacher, at the same time, is engaged with therest of the children’s education. This method requires a partnership between the specialized and thegeneral teachers. Both of them mutually and at every lesson plan activities which to be included intoboth groups of children in the integrated class. Except this, at certain moments of the lesson they cantake turns. The rich experience of the specialized teacher can turn out to be beneficial at the educationof the big group as meanwhile the general teacher can give a valuable help in mastering of some skillsof the little group of the integrated children. Realization of this model supposes a very good professionalqualification of the specialized teacher as well as of the general one.

The model of the united classes also provides for the integration of a group of children with SEN in ageneral class but without defining the number of the group. The integrated group keeps being a part ofthe specialized school and it is an integral part of the general class as it is in the model mentioned above.At that model each group is taught by the certain school plan and programs by common activitiesplanned by both the resource teacher and the general one.

Another model of integration is this one of the small classes which provides for formation of aspecialized class the number of which is from 6 to 11 children. This method is appropriate for integrationof children with inhibitions in mental development and can be applied by the resource centre. Theintegration of the small special class into the general one lasts form 4 till 6 years giving the children thechance to flow into the steam of the children with normal development as that is realized with anindividual rate for each of the children. This model is not the best form of integration because separatesthe children but it keeps the possibility for social contacts.

The model one to one is possible for applying for the children with multiple deep disabilities requiringan intensive individual teaching. Usually the blind and deaf children are taught by this system. Thepractice shows that the education can be realized in a general class as in certain cases the child can becared for by a parent. This model of integration is most applicable and the most effective teaching isrealized with it but it is expensive. Although the awkward communication the probability for creatingsocial contacts in the general class is much higher than in the limited environment of the specializedschool.

Before the Resource centers to be created in our country in 2006, the Third Subsidiary School Sofia, inthe frames of two years, was one of the first that assumed the role of a resource service providingspecialists and didactic materials for work with the integrated children in the schools of generaleducation. That was the period in which the first steps to the integration of children intellectualimpairment were made. For facilitating of this process at the beginning meeting between the teams ofthe specialized and general schools were organized at which the aims and the approaches for realizingthe integrative process were debated. Groups of 6-8 children with SEN which were assisted by a resourceteacher on the stat to the subsidiary school were formatted. At the initial period often the procedure onan initial estimate of the children with SEN was carried out in the specialized school where a constant




acting school team exists after which the child is represented to the regional team. The most importantrole at the integrated education played the resource teachers as they had a very good professionalpreparation for a work with mentally disabled children. The subsidiary school played the role of aresource center at its region coordinating the word of the resource rooms in the general school. Theresource teachers visited the subsidiary school twice a week for team meetings at which the shared theresults of their activity and discussed the appropriate strategies for work with certain children. Alongwith the team of the subsidiary school the resource teacher worked out an individual program foreducation and development of each of the children. In the professional records of the resource teacherswere marked off three main functions: to provide for the integrated children with mental isolation, aswell as to provide for the general teacher at his or her work with these children and to work with theparents. In the duties of the resource teacher the preparation of the child with SEN for integration,searching for children with SEN in the frame of the general school or adapting of the children with amild mental retardation who to be integrated in the mainstream. From another side, the resource teacherexplained to the children from the general class the specific of studying and perception of the integratedchild and that he or she does not distinguish from the rest of them. The teacher expounded his or herrole to his colleagues from the general school as well as to the children. Such teachers provided theintegrated children with didactic materials and student books. The child with SEN was warned for thetypical difficulties in different general subjects. The guarantee for the efficiency of the activity of theresource teachers at integrating the children with SEN was the good partnership with the managementand their colleagues from the general schools. The resource teachers worked on formation of useful andsocial skills as when it was necessary the children with SEN visited the subsidiary school to get a supportin subjects which impeded them or for consultation with a speech therapist or a psychologist. Theresource teacher participated in the professional orientation of the student along with his or her parentsand the management of the specialized school. When it was necessary, the resource teacher expandedthe field of attendance of the child. When there was need of medical examinations or a therapy theywere organized along with the parents. The resource teachers contributed for the expanding of the socialsupport of the integrated education by carrying out cooperation with different institutions and explainedthe philosophy of the integrative education. The main function of the resource teachers working on thepay-roll to the subsidiary school was the interaction with the general teachers. The resource teacherconsulted the general one about the specifics of the educating the students which were a result of thedisability. The general teacher had to be informed about the way in which the child gets informationabout the communication, which activities he or she could take part in and which the main roads forcompensation of the disability were. For example, at the children with mental retardation, the resourceteacher offered advices about how to use more visual aids in order to help the information reach thechildren through all their preserved senses. The resource and the general teacher planned mutualactivities at the lesson as the resource teacher attended the classroom at certain moments to help directlythe integrated student. The specialized pedagogue helped to the general one on checking the knowledgeof the integrated child. He or she helped the form teacher to include the child into the class life. Theresource teacher organized including of his or her colleagues from the general school in seminars onspecial pedagogic where they got the specialized training and were recommended a specializedliterature. The other important function of the resource teacher is the helping on the parents with adviceshow to be useful to the child at the lessons doing and homework, what specialized material can beprovided for a better understanding of the tutorial. The parents were encouraged to form useful skillsfor a self-dependant and independent life of the child as well as to stimulate social contacts creation.The two-year-experience of the Third Subsidiary School Eduard Segen – Sofia, as a resource serviceproved that the specialized school can successfully fulfill this function.




The job of the resource teacher requires confidence of the student and because of this reason the childshould feel the goodwill and the sincere desire to give a support. At carrying out of his or her activity,the resource teacher can keep a work notebook for each student in which to match the reached results ofthe individual work. Except this he or she should keep obligatory a personal file of the student where tokeep all his or her documents – medical and pedagogical ones. The documentation should be checkedby the institution to which the special pedagogue is appointed in order to follow the dynamics of thechildren with SEN development and the efficiency of the school activity. The work of the resourceteacher is reported at the end of each school term to the pedagogical council. If some of the childrenthere is no progress in the integrative teaching first of all the tutorials should be analyzed in order to findthe reasons. For a better tracing of the resource teacher’s activity efficiency surveys with the teachers ofthe general school and the children’s parents can be carried out.

The practice shows the best model of integrative education does not exist and the selection of the mostappropriate one should be done in accordance with the needs and the opportunities of the certain childrenwith SEN. One of the most important conditions for a successful realization of the integrated educationis the presence of a good cooperation between all the participants in the process: the resource and thegeneral teacher, between the teachers and the students, between the teachers and the parents as well asbetween the children with SEN and the healthy children, between the school and the society. The successof the integrative education depends in a large degree on the general teacher’s adjustment who is ableto contribute for the social acceptance of this kind of education.

The integrative education is actually feasible from the resource centers as well as from the specializedschool. The subsidiary school has been developed and it is going to undergo changes as it will be ableto take up the functions of a resource service for the integrative education of the children with intellectualimpairment, summer school organizing, consultation and training of parents, psychological help, speechtherapist help and qualified seminars for teachers. The specialized school affords a practical basis forstudents’ preparation in special pedagogic as well as other activities that can be organized during thestudents’ holidays. The necessity of a parallel existing of the both institutions – Resource centre and aspecialized school is grounded by the necessity of the parents and the children with SEN to afford anopportunity for choosing the most appropriate form of education and an integration model.

REFERENCES

Raduilov, Vl., Children with special pedagogical needs in the school and the society, Bourgas, 1996

Raduilov, Vl., The integrative education and the specialized schools, Shoumen, 1995

Karadjova K., Opportunities for realization and social adaptation of the children with mental retardation,Special Pedagogic Magazine, №3, 1996

Karadjova K., Determinations of the integrative education for children with intellectual impairment,Sofia, 2010




INNOVATIVE END EDUCATIONAL TECHNALOGIES APPLIED

IN HIGH EDUCATION AS OBJECTIVE REALITYSholpan E. Sakipova

KAZAKH NATIONAL AGRARIAN UNIVERSITY

The changing socio-economic situation in modern Kazakhstan caused the necessity of modernization inthe sphere of higher education, rethinking of theoretical approaches and accumulated practice of highereducation. Accessibility, quality and effectiveness are the priorities of education envisaged by theconception of modernization of high and secondary education.

Realization of these priority requirements is assisted by the pedagogical innovations. Innovations in theeducational activity means new knowledge, approaches, methods, technologies used to maintain theresults in the form of educational services, notable for its social and market demand. Exploring theinnovative experience shows that most innovations are devoted to the development of new learningtechnologies.

Educational technology is a system method for projecting, realization, evaluation, correction and furtherreproduction of the educational and training process. The term innove (lat.) means entry of a new subjectinto some environment. It penetrates and gives rise to a number of changes in that environment (put intocirculation in 17 cent.). Under the term innovation one should understand the use of the results ofscientific and technical activity in one or different sphere of the society, directed for the improvementof the activity process and its results.

Therefore, the innovative methods used in high education are pedagogical methods, based on theutilization of the contemporary scientific achievements and information technologies. These methodsare used to elevate the quality of the students training process, to develop their creativity and to helpthem to make up their decision independently.

Under the conditions of the dynamic changes of the world, global interdependence and competition, thenecessity of widely used technologies, their constant development and complication, the informatizationof the study process has a fundamental meaning.

The intensive development of the sphere of high education on the basis of a use of information andtelecommunication technologies becomes the most important priority of the nation.

With the help of informatization it is proposed to ensure the vital advancement in the direction of therealization of the concept of the outstrip education (incl. basic and introduction of innovative methods),developing education (incl. humanistic orientation, adaptable training, use of creative technologies) andopen education with use of distance education and telecommunication technologies.

As a result there would be created an effective system of education, providing the formation of acompetent individual, competitive on the labor market, being able to resolve professional tasksindependently and realizing personal and social importance.

At the present stage of improvement of modern information technologies it is possible to replenishknowledge only through the development of new modern technology. Their development involves botha search for new teaching methods, establish a technical data base of educational activities, and theimplementation of innovative technologies for the educational process.




Currently, a methodology of the new information technologies is under development, their facilities arecreated and improved, and a practice of its implementation in high education is elaborated.

The main distinctive characteristic of the new information technologies is that they provide unlimitedpossibilities for independent and collaborative creativity of teachers and students.

The new information technologies, affiliated to the traditional information and explanation approach toeducation is less effective. Under the conditions of the new information technologies the role of ateacher’s activity during the education process is changed. He is a participant in the productive activityof his students.

The use of the new information technologies in the higher education helps students to acquire aneffective training.

The rapid spread of the new information technologies (NIT) in different spheres of man’s activity,including the system of education, has lead to the fact that the level of the effective functioning of theinstitutions is determined by the level of computerization and competitiveness of the teaching staff inthe field of NIT.

Analyzing the experience of the NIT introduction to the higher education institutions we may outlinethe following directions of its appliance:

- preparation of the teaching materials, first of all the students’ electronic text books forindependent work;

- use of the computer equipment as means of education and control of the training process(computer classes, system of interactive video, data base for different subjects etc.).

In the connection with the NIT development in the system of higher education, students are offered tostudy training materials executed in the form of electronic (computer) text books. But in this case themain problem is the simplicity or erroneous idea of the authors of how the electronic text book shouldbe done. They simply duplicate the information taken from the paper sources, without using the greatpossibilities of a computer. In some cases one can find text books with CD pack: at first, a student studiesmaterial from printed books and then executes practical exercises on computer under controlledprocedure. Such methodological complex does not make the full usage of computer; therefore it shouldbe called a computerized training book.

An electronic training book presents a training program system providing an uninterrupted and completedidactic circle: theoretical material, training and research activity, control of the knowledge level,interactive reverse connection.

There are two widely used technologies of electronic text books:

1) technology, based on the conception of typical screen view (registration, information board, questionboard and exercise board) [2]; 2) technology, based on the use of a theory of model method (laws,theories) [3].

The technology, based on the conception of typical screen view, does not provide the completecomprehension of the training material by the students because of its fragmental presentation. Thatshortage is eliminated by a theory model method.

Alongside with the electronic text books, reproducing the complete didactic circle, program systems areused, including some fragments of didactic circle: encyclopedic, informational and test electronic books.




Encyclopedic electronic books contain a large volume of information according to definite topics,presented in a form of articles, arranged to a thematic principle.

Informational and test electronic books do not contain a wide information, but they are more purposeful.Informational and test electronic books are normally used in a real training process as an additionalreference books.

Test electronic books contain a certain part of questions (tasks), testing model and system of analysisand evaluation of answers,

The improvement of electronic training books should be based on the use of such modern technologiesas multimedia (multivariate environment), “virtual reality”, “micro world” environment, which can besuccessfully used by a student not only during the independent work with electronic text book, but alsoin a course of a class work.

Multimedia is a technology, providing a static image, video image, animation, text and audio.Information received with a digital photo camera, scanner, video camera, microphone and other externalsources after being processed and, possibly accompanied by a text, animation and special effects isregistered in a multimedia file.

The use of multimedia equipment in a training process provides effective comprehension of a studymaterial due to an optimal interaction of visual and audio effects.

In a combination with a hypertext multimedia forms systems of hypermedia (super environment), basedon a method of discrete presentation of information in junctions, connected by means of links. [1]

In spite of its complicated elaboration and realization in training process, high value of a programguarantee, the new computer technology gains a wide spread – “virtual reality”. It creates an illusion ofdirect presence. The use of that technology in a training process helps to model different types of activityfor a student.

The “micro world” environment allows to organize a research activity for the students on the basis acomputer modeling. The environment may include necessary information for a research: electronictables, audio accompaniment; systems to manage the work of real stands, equipments, units with thehelp of special indicators, connected with a computer, which elaborates received data and presents themin a form of tables, diagrams and graphics. The “micro world” environment creates the optimumconditions for the realization of a project methodology in learning process.

The project methodology, put into circulation in 1920, is widely used in nowadays. It aims to developcomprehensive skills and habits of students, their knowledge critical thinking. [4]

The project methodology always assumes that students make independent decision (individually or ingroups) of any problem, provided the use of research methods, integration of knowledge and skills fromdifferent spheres of science, techniques and technologies with the aim to get concrete result of theoreticaland practical importance.

The main stage of work is organization, work on project, result processing and presentation – visualdemonstration of the “information” (project), as a rule, with the help of audio-visual means.

The basis of the most projects contain research methods of education, where students make up theirdecision using classical scientific research with all research methods distinctive for scientists’ activity.

The project methodology combines with a training method. Projects may be accompanied with the useof electronic posts and in a form of teleconference. In the course of work under the projects students




may need a rapid search of ideas and decisions. In that case the “brainstorming” method may be used.The “brainstorming” method is used in groups to generate ideas. Its main goal is to help students to freetheir consciousness and subconscious, to stimulate imagination in order to receive original and non-standard ideas.

It is difficult to evaluate the importance of NIT in the training process: it includes a large didacticpotential. Of course, it is not an alternative to the traditional training systems, as even the most perfectcomputer cannot replace the vital interaction between teacher and student.

On the other hand, a student, who acquires the information and the methods for its collection,elaboration, keeping and transmission, during the training process becomes an active person of thepedagogical process, a researcher who is capable to state and resolve independently a wide range oftasks.

The introduction of different information technologies into the training process should be scientificallygrounded. All computer training program an electronic text books should undergone an expertise: uponthe evaluation of experts a certain certificate is issued – document, confirming its quality withrecommendation for introduction of the program.

Unfortunately, until now there isn’t any, generally accepted, evaluation system of the pedagogicalpurpose to use any program product. Nevertheless, the following system of criteria is presented asoptimal: accordance to the didactic principles (scientific approach, visual aids, availability, activity,systematic, consistency, firmness of the acquired knowledge, unity of educational, study and developingfunctions of training); provision of the interactive training; correspondence between the structure of thetraining information and the logics of its presentation to the methodological requirements to a trainingsubject; correlation of different levels of cognitive process; verbal (texts, formulas), visual (graphics,video, animation), sensual (perception of the information about the object through the organs of senses);provision of the productivity, safety and comfort for the users while working with the program;preservation of system efficiency, during the incorrect action of user; comfort of user interface; noninterrupted work of a system; openness of a system (can be modified).

At present time the higher educational establishments of Kazakhstan introduce step-by-step the systemof electronic training “e-learning”, which means technical equipment by multimedia means of training,wide access to Interned and use of electronic resource of educational material. There is a demand formodern, interactive and multimedia text books of new generation and format based on the statelanguage.

Therefore, the formation of the modern innovative electronic training book is a compound, responsibleprocess, requiring professional competitiveness in different spheres. To create electronic text books ofgood quality it is expedient to form a creative group of specialists of different types: a teacher (elaboratorof the whole structure), leading teacher (specialized in didactics), psychologist (specialized inpsychology), programmer, engineer, specialists in the field of design and ergonomics.

Only complex approach in creation of electronic text books allows achieving real higher results intraining of students, and on the other hand – it will assist to develop new IT in the higher educationalestablishments and in system of education as whole.

Innovative technologies allows students to use effectively all methodological and learning literature andmaterials; to acquire professional knowledge; to develop problem-research thinking; to formprofessional opinion; to activate scientific and research work; to expand the possibility of self-controlof the acquired knowledge, for teachers - to renovate efficiently the methodological and training




literature; to introduce module technology of education; to expand the possibility of knowledge controlof students.

The training schedule of the “innovative institution” should include such forms as project elaboration,training, module training, period of training on the production site, in scientific and researchorganization. Technological equipment of education process should correspond to the level, achieved inthe leading foreign universities.

“Innovative institution” should have innovational center, which practically realizes the principle toproduce all that can be sold. In this case the leader of the project will be a manager – business-leader.Innovative center follows the requirements of the market and demand, competitiveness of the product.

On the basis of the stated above let us indicate the main direction for the NIT development in trainingprocess of Kazakh National Agrarian University:

1. Implementation of the innovation technologies of education involving all kinds oflearning activities (lectures, lab works, and seminars) and subjects with the use of multimediateaching system, demonstrated and guided by interactive appliances.

2. Implementation of the elements of innovative technologies, used in learning separateparts of subjects. It is course of lectures with the use of multimedia systems or some themes oflab works or practical (seminars) lessons. For example, the use of: “teacher-student” dialogform at lecture lessons; “round table” seminars at practical lessons of humanitarian subjects,press-conferences, disputes, presentations; practical lessons (math, physics, chemistry etc.) ;“group projects”, practical training; role games; problem solving; computer technologies ofeducation (AreGIS), computer testing, model education.

3. Use network technologies and resources of international computer nets, which allow tosolve the problem on new information level (distance technology of education).

4. Work with interactive appliances – boards, absolutely helpful in learning process:virtual lab works with the use of computer; all results are elaborated with computer systemsMathCAD, ChemCAD.

5. Development of innovations: improvement of training and methodological disciplines,electronic textbooks, methods of teaching: development of tasks, work books, video-lectures,virtual labs, adapted to Internet technologies.

6. Organized promotion courses, training for teachers, exchange of experience, seminars,round-tables on “Innovative technologies of education”.

As it was shown by the research, all tested technologies envisage applied knowledge not only in theframes of basic specialization, but also other education disciplines presented in high education. It isimportant that every teaching subject: has educational meaning for the students, develop theircommunicative and personal quality, assist the formation of scientific and cultural outlook.

Innovation technologies in high education allow improving the quality of the existing technologies fortraining specialists and providing the elevation of education quality, and therefore competitiveness ofhigh education in the market of educational services.




REFERENCES

Kodzhasparova G.M. , Patrov K.V. – Technical means of education and methods of their application.Publishing center “Academia”, 2001, - 256 p

Uvarov A.Yu. Electronic text book: theories and practice – Publishing house URAO, 1999 – 220 p

Zainutdinova L.Kh. Creation and use of electronic text books. – Astrakhan , publishing house “CNTP”1000 – 364 p

New pedagogical and informational technologies in high education. Publishing center “Academia”,2001, - 256 p




APPLICATION OF PROFESSIONALLY-ORIENTED TECHNOLOGY

TO THE TEACHING OF PHYSICS IN POLYLINGUAL EDUCATIONSaule E. Sakipova1, Arman O.Saulebekov2, Zhanar T. Kambarova1, Karlygash E. Akhmerova1

1Karaganda State University named after E.A.Buketov, Universitetskaya 28,

Karaganda, 100028, Kazakhstan2Lomonosov Moscow State University, Kazakhstan branch, Kajimukan str.11,

Astana 010010, Kazakhstan

Abstract

In this work, the problems of developing effective educational technologies at the process of studyingphysics at higher educational institution have been considered. The application of professionally-oriented technologies to the learning process of students on the Physics-Technical faculty of theKaraganda State University named after academician E.A.Buketov on the specialty 5B011000 - Physicsin groups with polylingual education is analyzed. The necessity of teaching students to fluency skillswith computer and software packages on the example of the MathCAD program is justified. As anexample, the research problem of the possibility of using MathCAD program for modelling ofelectrostatic fields and charged particles beams in these fields is considered. The solutions domains ofthe equations, which describe the trajectories of charged particles in the electrostatic hyperbolic field,are defined by applying MathCAD. It is shown, that the use of MathCAD in the study of subjects ofspecialization, in particular, the course «Computing Methods in Physics» allows students to learn notonly the different methods of computer modelling, but also to understand and consolidate knowledge ofprofessional physical and technical terms in English.

Key words: professionally-oriented technologies in education, polylingual education, MathCADprogram, computer modeling, electrostatic hyperbolic field.

1. INTRODUCTION

It is known that English is the source of intellectual, cultural and professional development of personalityand factor of social and economic, scientific and technological and cultural progress of society. Althoughto the problem of teaching English in higher school and, in particular, to oriented foreign languagecommunication has always given special attention. At the moment in terms of expanding internationalcooperation the demand for specialists, who practically speak English perfectly is increasing. All of thisraises the need qualitatively learning of specialists-physics, which professionally mastering severallanguages and by that getting a real chance to take more prestigious position in society, both in socialand professional relations.

The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.A.Nazarbayev posed the strip of board in front ofnational education. It must be capable of competitive, high quality, so that graduates of schools ofKazakhstan could easily continue their studies in foreign universities. Therefore, the most importantstrategic task of education is safety the best kazakh educational traditions and the procuring of graduatesof schools with international quality, develop their linguistic consciousness, based on - to master thestate, native and foreign languages [Missave ..., 2007]. In this context, understanding the role of




languages in the today world with special urgency poses the question of the effectiveness of languagetraining and raising the level of language proficiency of students.

As part of implementing the provisions of the Education Low in the universities of our country begantraining of pedagogical stuff for a work in the conditions of polylingual education experiment. One ofthe two basic universities, which were approved for realization of polylingual education in anexperimental mode, is Karaganda State University named after academician E.A.Buketov, professors ofuniversity should ensure qualitative teaching special subjects in English. As the practice of teachingstudents in groups with polylingual learning in the physics-technical faculty on specialty 5B011000 –Physics (educational), shows one of the most important tasks for professors is to find effective methodsof teaching subjects in English. Nowadays, the most productive and perspective educationaltechnologies are those that allow to organize the learning process, taking into account the direction ofprofessional training, as well as focusing on the personality of the student, his interests and abilities[Dolmatovskaya YuD … , 2000].

2. PROFESSIONALLY-ORIENTED TECHNOLOGIESAt the present stage educational technologies aimed at consistent modeling in the forms of learningactivities of students of the integral content and conditions of objective and social context of activitiesof a specialist are became actual.

The initial data for designing professional-oriented technologies are educational and professionalstandards with consider the objectives and content of education. The positive potential and creativity ofpersonality that can be promoted only in a comfortable learning should be taken into account by theteacher.

The most important characteristics of professional-oriented technologies of new generation are:

- effectiveness (high result is achieved by each student);

- economy (a large amount of material without big expenses and efforts from both teacher and studentare absorbed per time unit);

- ergonomics (learning occurs in atmosphere of cooperation, positive emotional climate in the absenceof an overload, and fatigue);

- creation of a high motivation to study the subject, which allows to identify and develop the bestpersonal qualities of the student, to reveal spare capacity of students.

The professionally-oriented technology of training of a new generation focused on the acquisition ofprofessional and communicative competence by students, the ability of students to engage in a proactiveand creative in dealing topics studied subject. During the study of special subjects in English method ofprofessional technique-based learning involves a complex kind of training activities. It combinesdifferent types of foreign language speech communication in order to address certain structural andpractical, information, research, and other troubled and creative tasks. Thus, on the one hand, the Englishlanguage serves as a means of educational, informational, constructive and creative activity of thestudent, and the other - in the course of the project is the development of the language being studied invarious aspects of its immediate use.

The technological strategy of professional training of students should consider the installation ofstudents toward self-actualization and self-realization, providing students with wide opportunities for




self-depth professional specialization on the basis of personal individual plans and educationalprograms. The latest technical tools is gradually turning into a mandatory element of professionally-oriented education in higher education. The information technology based on personal computers is gotrecognition.

Methodology of professional - oriented training of university students includes: accountinginterdisciplinary connections, the orientation of the individual students abilities, the close relationshipof theory and practice, monitoring and correction of student’s auditorium and autonomous work, theability to modify, vary the ratio of volume and sequence of assignments, reliance on the achievement ofdidactics, reflecting the interrelated activities of the teacher and student [Musnickaya YeV … , 2000].

The greatest efficiency comes from such contemporary professionally-oriented learning technologyspecialist disciplines, such as:

- Communicative with the ideas of contextual learning technologies;

- Modular, which are highly concentrated and high-quality selection of material;

- Design technology that develop creative thinking;

- And information suggesting the introduction of computers into the learning process.

3. THE COMPUTERIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL PROCESS AT POLYLINGUALTRAINING IN

The successful implementation of polylingual education program contributes to the functioning in ouruniversity multimedia centers equipped with modern digital audio, video equipment, computersconnected to the Internet, interactive whiteboards and other means to compensate for the lack oflanguage environment. Modern personal computer allows you to quickly and accurately solve thecomplex system of equations, to plot the dependence graphs, to modeling reproducible experiment[Bobrova LN et al, 2008]. Students as future professionals need to be fluent skills on computer andmaster the computer educational technologies that are widely used in the educational process andscientific research.

Here it necessary to master the methods of computational physics is an independent writing by studentsof different computer programs on algorithmic programming languages and the ability to work withmodern packages and systems of computer mathematics. These include the MathCAD package - acommon enough automatic design system, which integrates document editor, system integrator, theResource Center, e-books, the help system, Internet browser.

For example, in the study of the discipline «Computing Methods of Physics» on the 3rd course uses theMathCAD package. This program is useful for teaching different methods of computer modeling, andto reinforce knowledge and understanding of the technical terms in English. Student is learning differentmethods of solving physics tasks by using standard commands and functions of the English. Repeateduse of these commands and operations lead to the automaticity in using of need terms in the English.

Using MathCAD program in the study of physics in terms of polylingual education is caused, becausethe built-in library contains descriptions of functions and the standard mathematical commands inEnglish. At the making up the computational algorithms and programs, students use a variety ofcommands or mathematical operations by means of standard functions in English. And during theprocess they study terms and new words automatically, the vocabulary is enriched. During conducting




the various mathematical operations - commands from the menu bar window of MathCAD are carriedout in English. In some aspects of using MathCAD for effective teaching disciplines in physics arediscussed. In general, we can motivate the expediency of MathCad as follows [Sakipova SE et.al., 2011]:

- MathCad makes study of physics easier, since relieves student from the mass of routine computingwork.

- MathCad makes the study of physics more interesting, because it allows considering a number ofinteresting and previously inaccessible issues at high level.

Therefore, taking into account the fact that graduates of the specialty 5B011000 - Physics (educational)are focused on the teaching physics at schools in English. Therefore, as the case of practical tasksstudents in the study of the discipline «Computing Methods of Physics» are offered to prepare lessonsor fragments of lessons on the physics by using MathCAD. The menu <Help>, in particular «ReferenceTables» provides the necessary reference information in physics, for instance, the values of FundamentalConstants, tables of Derivative Formulas and Integral Formulas, formulas for calculating areas andvolumes of bodies, almost all the formulas on the Physics - Mechanics, Periodic Table of Mendeleev,the formula for calculating moments of inertia, the physical properties of various materials, etc.[Porshnev SV … , 2002]. These data are convenient to use for teacher and students at the preparation ofdemonstration slides for the lectures, for the construction of graphs and diagrams of processes in thecalculation of physical parameters, in the solution of physical tasks.

In addition, the package MathCAD has a powerful mathematical tool that allows carrying out symboliccomputation, to solve systems of algebraic and differential equations, operations with vectors andmatrices, write programs, build graphs and surfaces, etc. The distinctive feature of the package is theuse of familiar standard mathematical notation; i.e. a document on the screen looks exactly like anordinary mathematical calculation. It is unnecessary to study any system of commands to use thepackage. MathCAD is a visual programming environment, i.e. does not require knowledge of a specificset of commands. Ease of mastering the package, friendly interface, the relative simplicity topossibilities of computer were the main reasons that particular this package has been selected forteaching students numerical methods. MathCAD is constructed in accordance with the principleWYSIWYG - "What You See Is What You Get".

The structure of MathCAD consists of several integrated components:

- a powerful text editor that allows you to enter, edit and format both text and mathematical (physical)expressions;

- computing processor, able to perform calculations on the entered formulas, using the built-in numericalmethods;

- a symbolic processor, which is, in fact, a system of artificial intelligence;

- a huge repository of reference information, such as mathematical and engineering, structured as aninteractive e-book.

The combination of these features creates a convenient computing environment for a variety of physicalcalculations and at the same time, documentation of the work results, and formation of the importantcomponents of the interactive studies. All of them are taken into account during developing lesson plansand used during the lesson on physics. There one of the conditions of high-quality training of futurespecialists in the system of higher education is carried out - involvement of each student into cognitiveactivity, implementation their knowledge in practice and clear understanding of where, how and for




what purpose this knowledge can be applied. In the modern didactics discussion principle of the materialpresentation entered into the practice of teaching different subjects in the form of problem-basedlearning, when the teacher provides students with a number of initial data, so that in the process of self-searching they can find a solution to this or that issue.

With regard to the practical relevance of such studies, it is beyond doubt. First of all, it is interesting forstudents, now students have unlimited possibilities of use of electronic resources. Each student duringthe preparation of his/her methodological project uses the most interesting resources: someone paysmore attention to the animation of processes and experimental demonstrations, someone to thefundamental character of the formulation of definitions and physical concepts or laws, someone tocolorful design of slides and animations, somebody to correct formulas and algorithms of calculation inMathCAD. As a rule, there is no repetition and same standard working out. All these aspects arecarefully studied and discussed during the presentations demonstration with working out of lessons.Secondly, at the end of the semester each student has 7-8 ready development of different lessons onphysics, with use of modern computer interactive technologies. Students can use them in their futurecareers.

4. MODELING OF TRAJECTORIES OF CHARGED PARTICLES IN THEELECTROSTATIC FIELD BY MATHCAD

Special cases of focusing of charged particles beams in an electrostatic axially symmetric hyperbolicfield are studied previously. Hyperbolic field is described by the potential

22( , )

2rU r z a z

æ ö= -ç ÷

è ø. (1)

In work [Zashkvara VV et al., 1976], the possibility of focusing on the field (1) axially symmetric beamsof charged particles, emitted by a point source located on the axis, is analyzed. Field (1) is formed bytwo conical electrodes (4) being under the zero potential, and a hyperbolic electrode (5) which has apotential of the same sign as the charge of the particles

We considered that parts of the surface of conical electrodes are transparent, through which the beamsof charged particles enters into the region of the field. As a result, the focusing effect of this field on thebeam is circular image on the surface of the conical electrode.

In the present case the field, formed between the conical electrodes and electrode with hyperbolic form,is intermediate field between the two cascades in a cylindrical electrostatic mirror [Ashimbaeva et al.,2011]. Accordingly, the entering of the charged particles beam in the region of the deflection field andexiting through the hyperbolic electrode (Fig. 1), being under the zero potential, which impliestransparency parts hyperbolic electrode. Let's consider the case:

22

2rU a z C

æ ö= - - +ç ÷

è ø. (2)

Assume that r = r0 U = 0, then 20 2C ar= and the resulting

2 220

2r rU a az-

= - + . (3)




The equation of potential lines for U = 0 has the following form2 2 2

02r z r= + . (4)

1, 2 – the conical electrode, 3 – the hyperbolic electrode in section with plane r,z,

4 – trajectories of charged particles, r, z – cylindrical coordinates.

Fig.1. The course of the trajectories of charged particles in the electrostatic hyperbolic mirror.

Variants of hyperbolic electrode arrangement for different values of 0 cr rm = coefficient is shown Fig.2 (r0 and rc indicated in Fig. 1 and 5, respectively). For practical reasons (the optimum dept of enteringinto the field, a minimal impact of grid cells of hyperbolic electrode) for further calculations selected μ= 0.8 coefficient.

At the numerical calculations on the derived formulas arise difficulties due to the presence of severaldifferent algebraic expressions that have the limited range of valid values. To optimize the process ofcalculations and the selection of optimal conditions for the passage of a charged particle beamtrajectories, we considered various variants for the entering of particles in the region of the deflectionfield of hyperbolic mirror (HM). HM in the future be used as an intermediate element between the twocascades of the cylindrical mirror (CM). Note that on the area between the inner cylindrical electrode ina zero potential and hyperbolic electrode, effect of field is missing, so the segments of the particletrajectories in this section are straight line segments. The equation of a straight line, as it is known, isgiven by formula r az b= + , where the a coefficient is determined by the slope of a straight line. Thisallows to conduct a preliminary analysis to narrow the field of numerical calculations.




The curves in the figure indicate the hyperbolic electrode, respectively, at

0.5m = , 0.6m = , 0.7m = , 0.8m = .

Fig.2. The electrostatic HM.

The picture of the penetration of the trajectories of charged particles through a hyperbolic electrode fordifferent values of the entrance angle from 040 to 060 is shown in Fig.3. As can be seen from the fig.3,at the corners of the entrance 040 and 045 and at b = 0.5 trajectories does not fall to the HM deflectionfield, and at 050 the trajectory over a extended area passes in immediate proximity to the hyperbolicelectrode, which is undesirable.

1.7

0

1

z tand 40( ). 0.5

z tand 45( ). 0.5

z tand 50( ). 0.5

z tand 55( ). 0.5

z tand 60( ). 0.5

q z( )

0.71.1

0

z1 0.5 0 0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

1Fig.3. The coordinates of trajectory entrance into HM at b=0.5 for different a .




The trajectories at a fixed value of angle 040 for different of coefficient b are shown in Fig 4. In thiscase, only two trajectories at b = 0.8 and b = 0.9 entered into the region of the deflection field, but it isin the right half of HM (Fig. 4), causing a problem at the exit of the particles from region HM that is, onexit particles will not cross hyperbolic electrode. Thus, these cases are excluded for furtherconsideration. The next fig. 5 shows the variants of trajectories for various b and a. As can be seen fromthis fig.5, the best variant is in the range of angles 045 - 050 with the values b 0.6 - 0.7.

Thus, considering the trajectories of charged particles in the area between the inner cylindrical electrodeand the hyperbolic electrode, that is, outside of the field when the segments of the trajectories arestraight, will significantly reduce the area calculations of electron-optical characteristics of the combinedsystem of cylindrical and hyperbolic mirrors.

1.7

0

1

q z( )

z tand 40( ). 0.5

z tand 40( ). 0.6

z tand 40( ). 0.7

z tand 40( ). 0.8

z tand 40( ). 0.9

0.71.1

0

z1 0.5 0 0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2Fig.4. The coordinates of trajectory entrance into HM at 040=a for different b.

1.7

0

1

z tand 40( ). 0.5

z tand 45( ). 0.6

z tand 50( ). 0.7

z tand 55( ). 0.8

z tand 60( ). 0.9

q z( )

0.71.1

0

z1 0.5 0 0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

3Fig.5. The coordinates of trajectory entrance into HM for different a and b.




All calculations on the study of the range of valid values for the coordinates of the trajectory entranceinto HM field were performed using the MathCAD Professional package.

By the formula 20

22 2 rzr += (4) found equipotentials. The electrode can be positioned on any of theequipotentials.

Calculations of valid values for the coordinates of the trajectories of charged particles

in a hyperbolic mirror

m 0.8:= a 45 50, 60..:= tand a( ) tan a deg×( ):= q z( ) m2 2z2

+( )1

2:= z0 0.2-:=

b 0.6:=

r z a, ( ) tand a( )- z× b+:= F z a, ( ) q z( ) r z a, ( )-:= R a z, ( ) root F z a, ( ) z, ( ):= za R a za 1-, ( ):=

a

45505560

za

0.3160.2140.1630.127

q za

0.9160.8550.8320.82

r za a,

0.9160.8550.8320.82

F za a,

4.96610 4.

5.34110 4.

8.81510 5.

1.50410 5.

b 0.7

r z a,( ) tand a( ) z. b F z a,( ) q z( ) r z a,( ) R a z,( ) root F z a,( ) z,( ) za

R a za 1,

F za a,

5.427 10 5.

9.266 10 4.

4.298 10 4.

1.93 10 4.

a

45505560

za

0.1170.0920.0750.06

q za

0.8170.810.8070.805

r za

a,

0.8170.810.8060.804

b 0.8




r z a,( ) tand a( ) z. b F z a,( ) q z( ) r z a,( ) R a z,( ) root F z a,( ) z,( ) za R a za 1,

a

45505560

za

0000

q za

0.80.80.80.8

r za a,

0.80.80.80.8

F za a,

0000

b 0.9

r z a,( ) tand a( ) z. b F z a,( ) q z( ) r z a,( ) R a z,( ) root F z a,( ) z,( ) za R a za 1,

a

45505560

za

0.090.0770.0660.055

q za

0.810.8070.8050.804

r za a,

0.810.8080.8060.804

F za a,

1.13510 5.

6.23910 4.

3.18410 4.

1.52510 4.

m 0.8 b 0.5 z 1 r b z,( ) z b a 40 tand a( ) tan a deg.( )

f a z,( ) tand a( ) z. bq z( ) m2 2 z2

12

A b 0.5

z 1

r z b

z z 0.1

aj i, r

j 0 20..Îfor

b b 0.1

i 0 4..Îfor

a

B a 40

z 1

t tand a( ) z. b

z z 0.1

bj i, t

j 0 20..Îfor

a a 5

i 0 4..Îfor

b




Z z 1

z z 0.1

Zi z

i 0 20..Îfor

Z

C z 0.9

g m2 2 z2

12

z z 0.1

ci g

i 0 18..Îfor

c

5. CONCLUSIONS

Statement of the problem allows on a certain stage of its solutions to attract students, because aftersolving the equations, that require knowledge of the basis of integral-differential calculus, allcalculations are carried out on the exact formulas for the mean paths of charged particles in this field.In this case, the value of work carried out by students does not diminish as it requires the ability to workon the computer at a level above the average user, the ability to analyze complex mathematicalexpressions and physical nature of the research processes. To solve the problems in the implementationof performance of research projects by students for several years successfully recruited students ofPhysics-Technical faculty of Karaganda State University named after academician E.A.Buketov, whichis evidence that many of them became winners of regional, national and international competitions ofscientific works students.

The proposed work on modeling has two aspects. The first aspect - the optimization of performedcalculation, having a scientific and practical interest. The second aspect - to attract students, increasetheir interest in doing scientific work using modern computer technology, as well as increased visibilityof the results.

The significance and importance of the effective use stage of presentation of methodologicaldevelopments in the fact that herewith happen the analysis of the project activity, including self - andmutual assessment (reflection). Indeed, during demonstration and discussion of presentations withdevelopment of lessons students clearly see the advantages and disadvantages of some form ofpresentation of training material. Responding to questions of teacher and their group mates, studentsmore clearly understand the content of the lesson.

The most important thing, using the possibilities of the applied program MathCAD, students are gettingthe skills of memorization, the ability to correctly pronounce the physical and mathematical terms inEnglish.

In training results of the joint work of students in the group are summarized, a qualitative assessment tothe done work is given. Summarizing, we can once again note that the use of professional-orientedtechnologies facilitates ability to formulate the problem, to identify ways to solve it, to plan the work,to pick up the necessary material, etc. In the process of this activity the students are developing theirintellectual abilities, character traits such as dedication, perseverance, diligence, acquires a certain skills.

Thus, in teaching students specific subjects in English in higher education professors should pay specialattention to: the active forms of mastering the subject, including elements of the problem, scientific




research, extensive use of reserves of autonomous work, the introduction of the professional-orientededucational technologies, allowing not only to intensify, but also to personalize the learning process.

REFERENCES

Ashimbaeva, BU, Chokin, KSh, Saulebekov, AO & Kambarova, ZhT 2011, ‘Modeling of electrostaticsystem of cylindrical and hyperbolic mirrors’, Proceedings of abstracts of the Tenth All-Russianseminar, Problems of Theoretical and Applied Electron and Ion Optics, Moscow, Russian, pp.11. - 54.

Bobrova, LN & Nikulova, GA 2008, ‘New educational technologies in university; Collection of Reportsof the Fifth International Scientific Conference’, Yekaterinburg, Russian, pp.59-60.

Dolmatovskaya, YuD 2000, ‘Professional-oriented teaching foreign language in the modern conditions’,Professional communication as the goal of foreign language teaching in non-linguistic university,Moscow, pp.5-9.

Missive of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.A.Nazarbayev 2007, New Kazakhstan in theNew World, the official publication, Astana.

Musnickaya, EV 2000, ‘New trends and actual problems of formation of skills of foreign languagecommunication among students of non-linguistic universities’, Professional communication as the goalof foreign language teaching in non-linguistic university, Moscow, pp.9-15.

Porshnev, SV 2002, ‘Computer modeling of physical processes using the package MathCAD’, Moscow,p.252.

Sakipova, SE, Akhmerova, KE, Ganyukova, AA & Shalanova, ZhT 2011, ‘Features of physics teachingin polylingual education’, Proceedings of the International Scientific and Practical Conference,Integration of education, science and industry as one of the priorities of the innovation economy»,Karaganda, Kazakhstan, pp.452-454.

Zashkvara, VV, Il’in, A.M. & Kruchkov, VF 1976, ‘Two cases of focusing of axially symmetric beamof charged particles in an electrostatic hyperbolic field’ , Zh. Tekh. Phys., vol. 46, p.1572.




INNOVATIVE WAYS OF TEACHING PHYSICS AT CREDIT-BASED UNIVERSITIES

Sholpan E. Sakipova, Kabira O. Kurbieva, Saule B. Izenbaeva


In the message to the people of the Republic of Kazakhstan- President Nursultan Nazarbayev hasmentioned that the education system should be aimed at obtaining teaching profession, qualifications,knowledge and skills that are appropriate to the world level, for the preparation of a competitive, soughtafter in the labor market graduate students. [1] After all, the ultimate purpose of education and the basiccharacteristics of its quality - is the professional competence of a specialist.

The problem of training qualified specialists in the field of agricultural engineering is due to a new stageof social and economic development of Kazakhstan, requiring a significant increase in human resourcesof the country on the basis of innovation in education. Fundamental changes in the methods andmechanisms of state regulation of market relations determined the need for highly skilled andcompetitive specialists and dictate the need to improve the training of agricultural engineer, usinginnovative research methods for teaching and learning activities, ensuring the formation ofprofessionally designed creative personality.

In modern conditions, providing orientation training of future professionals in the direction of theirfuture professional activity has increased the importance of physics as a science and engineeringfoundation and it pushed for the necessity to develop a system of professional orientation of physics inagricultural universities, providing scientific basis for the formation of a special professionalcompetence of students - future professionals.

Among the natural sciences physics enjoys a dominant position by virtue of its linguistic andmethodological role in relation to other natural sciences, the range of physical skills and methods ofresearch form the basis of all natural science.

Consequently, the teaching of physics and other scientific disciplines need to be translated to anothernew level. This requires a fundamental change in the educational process in higher education, whenstudent acts as a passive consumer of knowledge on classical physics textbooks, very voluminous andmonotonous on the presentation of the material.

Physics and other basic natural sciences are the basis for further study of special disciplines ofengineering. Knowledge of the fundamental laws of physics that do not become obsolete with thedevelopment of science and technology make it possible for the professional to adapt in the world ofrapidly changing technology, but in a modern education of engineering the role of physics is not limitedto mastery of fundamental concepts and laws.

Traditional training, focused on building knowledge and skills in the subject area, more and more lagsbehind the date. In modern conditions - becoming a common educational space, high quality ofeducation is strongly associated with the objectives of the Bologna process: academic mobility,recognition of qualifications, the introduction of credit systems, conversion units by type of ECTS andso on.

The socio - economic situation in modern Kazakhstan necessitated the modernization of education,rethinking of traditional theoretical approaches and accumulated practice of education. Concepts of




modernization of higher and vocational education are provided to the priorities of education,accessibility, quality, efficiency, professional orientation.

State standard of higher education in specific occupations as a normative document defines the basicprinciples of the state policy in the educational organization. It sets mandatory minimum competenciesthat the student must master in the education process.

In accordance with this standard educational process in higher education institutions of Kazakhstan isbased on the credit system of education which aimed at the full account of the interests of students,providing them with educational needs, creating competition between teachers, improvement andapplication of various teaching methods and forms of control of educational achievements of students.

Credit technology training aims to ensure international recognition of national educational programs,creation of conditions for the mobility of students and teaching staff of educational institutions, as wellas improving the quality of education.

The standards of the new generation of graduate level of education reflects the following requirements:general education, social, personal, economic, organizational and managerial, professional andspecialized competence; readiness of changing social, economic, professional roles, geographic andsocial mobility in terms of increasing the dynamism of change; education for basic cycles and separateacademic disciplines.

The standard establishes mandatory minimum knowledge, skills and competencies that graduate studentmust have on graduation. This will ensure the convertibility of documents on education, the recognitionof the level of training in other countries.

The basis of education should be not so much academic disciplines as ways of thinking and learningactivities. It is necessary not only to release a specialist, who has received training high theoretical level,but also to incorporate it at the stage of training in new technologies and adapt to the conditions of thespecific production environment, make it a guide for new solutions, successfully performing the dutiesof a manager.

In the Republic of Kazakhstan "Physics" as a discipline in National Education is a required course formany undergraduate majors (Bachelor).

In the Kazakh National Agrarian University, as well as in all institutions of the Republic of Kazakhstan,training is held by the credit based program. At bachelor program, number of credits on the teaching ofbasic and at the same time intensive and bulk disciplines such as physics has decreased dramatically,while the physics and mathematics are theoretical and basic foundation of all engineering and agro-technical professions. Due to this fact, the problem of teaching general physics course for bachelors inthe credit based program is an urgent task.

On the one hand - reducing classroom time at a certain number of credits allocated to the discipline, onthe other - the need to give basic knowledge of physics. In the early 80-ies for the study of generalphysics course in high schools used to be four semesters with 18 weeks. Under these conditions, it waspossible to provide a sufficient level of knowledge and skills of the future agricultural engineer. Today,according to the curriculum of universities only 3 credits with studying it in a 15 week semesteris givenfor the basic course of physics, for example, the specialty 5V080600 - Agricultural equipment andtechnology. Thus it is necessary to take into account the fact that physics is an experimental science, itsuggests practical classes, laboratory sessions, mathematical processing and analysis of experimentaldata besides lectures.




Large amount of information received in the learning process, while at the same time, the shortage ofclassroom time during the credit based program require the introduction of new, innovative approachesand learning technologies to enable not only learn, but also to systematize knowledge. The problem thatpops up is the optimal balance between the fundamental components of education and training.

The limited training time and the need for communication with the effective use of the proportion ofteaching time for independent work of students (IWS), require the development of new and effectiveteaching methods aimed at profound assimilation of acquired knowledge and the development ofpractical action, based on increasing the level of autonomy and creativity in the process of cognitiveactivity.

It is not just about increasing the number of hours to work independently. Strengthening the role of theIWS is a fundamental revision of the organization of the educational process in order to develop astudent's ability to learn independently, to form his capacity for self-development. The decisive role inthe organization of the IWS owns the teacher, who should not work with the student, "generally", butwith a specific person, with his/her strengths and weaknesses, individual abilities and inclinations. Thetask of the teacher is to see and develop the best qualities of the student as the future professional orspecialist with high qualifications.

Independent work of students (IWS) promotes the formation of a creative development of the individual,able to make their own choices and to realize the goals that go beyond the prescribed standards, able toanalyze problems arising in production, to find their optimal solution, which ultimately determines thecompetence of a specialist. In this regard, it should be recognized that the independent work of thestudent is not just an important form of educational process; it must be his/her base. The purpose of theIWS curriculum - to teach students to intelligently and independently work with the material at first,then with scientific information, to lay the foundations of self-organization and self-education in orderto instill the ability in the future to continuously improve their skills.

The purpose of searching for new innovative approaches to teach physics - the maximum adaptation ofthe learning process to the individual needs of students, teaching methods of IWS, self-control, researchmethods; the development and improvement of skills to work independently, to acquire knowledge.

Consider some of the methods and techniques that are most suitable for the teaching of physics andenhance the effectiveness of training.

In order to solve the problem of systematization of knowledge and best learning there is a trainingmodule technology, which consists in splitting the bulk of information in specific doses - modules towarrant the manageability, flexibility and dynamism of the learning process.

At the beginning of this module, the students have aim that is been set for them, which physical theories,formulas, methods, he/she should know, with specification of sources in order to gain knowledge - booksand manuals. The study of the module is completed through thecontrol. The main indicator is theobjectivity of the evaluation, so at the beginning of this module, students should be clear about thesystem of monitoring and assessment criteria.

The widespread practice of universities in modern ranking system - is the routine tracking of quality oflearning and skills in the discipline which allows to reach smooth work of the student during thesemester. According to the program of discipline which called Syllabus, in which all the marks arewritten on all types of student learning activity and the students themselves can regulate their learningachievements.




Very useful as well, in terms of innovative educational environment, may be the use of a test ofknowledge and skills of students, which is characterized by the objectivity, as well as saves time of ateacher, largely frees him from routine work and allows to concentrate more on the creative part ofteaching. Use of tests is very efficient at IWS for learning and self-control. In this case, student checkshis knowledge by himself. If he/she did not answer directly to the test task, the student receives a hintwhich explains the logic of the task and then student answer it the second time.

Satisfaction from rising from year to year of training requirements for engineers, agricultural engineers,with the continuing constraints of time of studying physics, consequently, an increase in capacity ofinformative educational material, the lack of funds for updating the material and technical base, it isimpossible without the introduction of new information technologies (NIT) in educational process.

The introduction of new information technologies in the educational process allows you to bypass manyof the difficulties and in combination with traditional improve the quality of education, also it canencourage students to become more active in learning activities, as well as they can use theirindividualized learning process more efficient during study time. In the study of the physics course wecan use the video version of the laboratory work and video tasks, computer modeling of physicalphenomena and processes that perform virtual labs, prepare computer works and data analysis of the labworks, as well as computer testing in training mode and control. In fact, every activity of the student canbe followed by the individual elements of the IT support.

It is worth noting that increasingly penetrating into the learning process automated trainings and teaching- control systems that allow undergraduate students to study independently and simultaneously controlthe level of mastery of the material become more and more useful among educational systems.

At this time in the universities of Kazakhstan we can see that «e-learning» gradually being introduced,which implies the technical equipment of schools with modern multi-media training, Internet access anda wide use of e-learning resource material. In this regard, there is the possibility of using electronictextbooks throughout the new generation and format of physics, which usually include theoreticalmaterial, virtual labs, the bank of test questions and etc. By self-working with them, student can directlyparticipate interactively in obtaining and retaining knowledge.

At the present stage there is a need for modern innovative textbooks in national language, which mustcontain the integrity of the material, tests should not be one-sided, we should make it possible for thestudent to self-test at the time of IWS, available animations must be accompanied by explanations andnotations, tasks should have specified algorithm of solutions, laboratory works should be in all fields ofphysics, as well as graphics and drawings should meet the current requirements of bookdesign. At thesame time, in the pursuit of innovation we need to try to avoid “gamezation” of the learning process.

The combination of the fundamental curriculum content in physics with laboratory and practical formof learning is invaluable for the development of intellectual abilities that are necessary for high qualitytraining as well as competitive in today's labor market, which should not only master a certain amountof knowledge and solve typical problems, but also have the ability for self-education, creativity, adaptionto the changing conditions of activity, self-directed tasks and have the strength and ability to solve them.

In compiling of educational and methodical - didactic complex in physics we need to consider futurespecialization of bachelors of diversified agricultural university. The education program must provide asufficient volume of material by the fields of physics that is essential for the future of the graduatedegree, such as Bachelor of electricity at the rate of electromagnetism and etc.




At the same time the main system-forming factor in the curriculum of universities, of course, should bea specialty. It is the sphere of application of the knowledge gained as well as checking their accuracy.Knowledge are most valuable for future professional, of course if they fit into the elements in the systemof knowledge of the profession and that is why while preparing our education programs, differentemployers are invited in order to take their views into account.

The aims and objectives of teaching physics at the agricultural university with credit based program arefollowing: students should be provided with a clear understanding of those physical tasks, the solutionof which are being successfully used in industrial development of agro-industrial complex ofKazakhstan.

In order for graduate student of agricultural university to be competitive and in demand, he/she must beable to work with modern measuring and controlling instruments as well as to acquire research skills towork with them.

Competitive specialist should be able to analyze and build physical and mathematical models of appliedproblems, also have an abstract thinking and creative imagination. At lectures on physics studentreceives the necessary amount of theoretical material on laboratory studies, he/she learned the skills ofworking with modern measuring and controlling apparatus, also in practical classes of physics, he/shetakes engineering calculation skills and develop their logical thinking.

The development of techniques and skills for experimental studies of physical phenomena in thelaboratory and practical lessons on physics, help to solve specific practical problems and agro-engineerial tasks in the future. As a result of studying physics, students also learns physical principlesand mechanisms that underlie specific real production processes.

As a result of studying physics students acquire the basic methods of research, they learn how to properlyanalyze them, work with modern physical instruments, learn to determine the allowable error ofmeasurements and mathematically handle the data of the experiments.

The use of innovative approaches in teaching physics is closely associated with increased learningefficiency and focus on the end result of the educational process – this is the preparation of highlyqualified specialists with fundamental and applied knowledge that are able to successfully acclimatenew professional and managerial areas, able to respond flexibly and dynamically at the changing socio-economic conditions as well as having a high moral, civic, and leadership qualities.

REFERENCES

Message of The President Nursultan Nazarbayev to the people of Kazakhstan. Astana, 2010.




PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN OLDER ADULTS18

Irena Slepičková, Pavel Slepička

Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Charles University in Prague

Czech Republic

Abstract

Growing numbers of seniors in the population of Western countries evoke a pressing need to find waysof maintaining their quality of life as long as possible. Participation in physical activity (PA) is one ofthe important factors helping to preserve the quality of life, positive self-concept and life satisfactionover the lifespan. In the article, we present selected results of a study conducted on a sample of Czechand US older adults (n=426) aged 60-85 years. The respondents were administered a battery of self-evaluation questionnaires which measured their participation in various types of PA (sport, leisure,work), motivation to participate in PA, and perceived health. The results show certain culturaldifferences in both groups with the American older adults participating more in sporting PA and theCzech older adults participating in more non-sporting and work-related PA. We also observed a positiverelationship between moderate and strenuous PA and perceived health. It seems that the concept of“active aging” has been more accepted by US population and it is only emerging in the Czech context.

Key words: seniors; physical activity; sport; life satisfaction.

1. INTRODUCTION

Sport is a social phenomenon with a relation to social structure in which the population of older adultsrepresents an important part. There are many reasons why we should focus on the subpopulation of olderpeople. Without a doubt, the recent global demographical changes are one of the most important reasons.According to demographical estimates, the worldwide population of older adults may grow up to 1billion people in 2020. Similar demographical pattern has been observable also in the Czech Republic.At present, seniors represent a significant part of the Czech population (more than 18 %) and theirproportion will probably grow further. Based on the current demographical trends, it is expected that inthe middle of the 21st century seniors will constitute up to 30% of the Czech population. We may expectthat this demographical development will have a significant psychosocial impact on the Czech societyas a whole.

These changes in the structure of the population have been determined by several factors. In the pasthundred years, life conditions in developed countries including health care and social securityhaveimproved significantly.With growing quality of health care people live longer and infant mortality hasbecome almost non-existent which is reflected in the demographical development. Increasing averagelife expectancy and growing number of older people has consequences for individuals as well as thewhole society. From the economic point of view, it is important that the older people remain

18 This study was supported by VZ MŠMT ČR MSM 0021620864 and PRVOUK 39.




economically active as long as possible. With growing age, the probability of health complications riseswhich increases the costs of health care and social security. For individuals it is important to havesufficient financial means not only to cover living costs but also to cover increasing costs of health andsocial care and satisfy other needs important for self-sufficient and satisfying life. From a psychosocialpoint of view, for an individualit is important to live an active life with enough leisure activities andsatisfying social interactions.

2. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND SPORT IN THE LIVES OF OLDER ADULTS

2.1. Psychosocial benefits of sport in older adults

Current studies (e.g. Kučerová 1996; Kramer et al. 2003; Cavill, Kahlmeier & Racioppi 2006; Nelsonet al. 2007; Slepička & Pěkný 2008) suggest that maintaining physical self-sufficiency is one of themajor benefits of the participation in physical activity and sports. Physical self-sufficiency representsoneof the crucial factors determining the quality of life, relative independence and saturation of basicindividual needs. Physical activity mitigates the deterioration of physiological and psychologicalfunctionsand it helps to preserve positive self-concept, self-efficacy, motoric and social skills and itfacilitates everyday functioning.

The studies also show that participation in physical activity positively impacts emotional aspects of life,for example through sharedpositive experiences acquired during exercise. In general, in every life phasesport brings new experiences, enriches the emotional aspects of life, and positively impacts cognitiveprocesses and psychological resilience. In the population of seniors, the social context of theparticipation in sporting activity becomes especially prominent (Pěkný & Slepička 2010). Socialinteraction is an inevitable part of the group exercise activities and it helps to satisfy the need ofaffiliation and overcome the feelings of isolation and loneliness which are often present in elderly people(Kučerová 1996). Therefore, the psychosocial effects of sporting activities help to maintain the qualityof life as long as possible.

Pěkný and Slepička (2010) confirmed that in older age people tend to emphasize health related values;health is a commodity which, in general, increases in importance with growing age. High importance ofgood physical condition stems probably from a need to be physically self-sufficient and able to lead aquality life. Older people also tend to value security and stability and they rate highly the values relatedto the safe social microclimate. Furthermore, seniors´ value close social relations and the seniors whoparticipate in physical activity emphasize the values of independence, self-sufficiency and opennesstowards others.

In general, participation in leisure activities is considered as an important or even the main factor ofwell-being in older adults (Cecil & Heo 2009). Hawkins, Foose and Binkley (2004) have shown thatparticipation in leisure activities positively impacted the life satisfaction of older adults (as measured byLife Satisfaction Index-Z). They also observed some differences between the US and Australianpopulation which suggests that the relationship between the leisure activities and life satisfaction isculturally determined.

Physical activities have an important place amongst leisure activities and they proved to slow down theprocesses of physical and psychological ageing. Sufficient regular physical activity represents apreventive measure mitigating the health problems related to older age with documented positiveimpacts on physiological and psychological functioning and the global quality of life in older adults(Leville et al. 1999; Fox 1999; Laurin et al. 2001; Kramer et al. 2003;Netz et al. 2005).




Although the importance of sporting activity for individual psychosocial development is widelyaccepted in scientific discourse, it does not always reflect in the actual physical activity of older adults.For example, Mudrák, Slepička and Šiška (2011) found that the physical activity of older adults in theirsample was relatively low compared to the recommendations of the World Health Organization. 64%of their respondents did not reach the recommended amounts of physical activity, 77% did notparticipate in any strenuous physical activity and 47% did not participate in any moderate physicalactivity. Therefore, it is important to ask what motivates older adults to participate in sport and physicalactivity.

2.2. Motivation of older adults for physical activity

Numerous studies (e. g. McAuley et al. 2003) show that participation of older adults in physical activityis influenced by various variables including social and cultural factors. Important role is played by socialsupport, especially from family and close friends. Also, the importance of physical activity in the culturalmilieu is very significant as the respect towards physical culture builds foundations for incorporatingphysical activities and sports into the lifestyles of people living in the cultural context.

Other environmental factors also play an important role. An availability of the facilities for leisuresporting activities and the physical activities programs tailored to the needs of older adults seems to beespecially beneficial. Older adults often do not meet sufficient levels of physical activity for reasonsother than lacking motivation. Some studies (Slepičková et al. 2009) show that seniors frequently avoidsports not because of the lack of interest but due to the insufficient opportunity caused by lacking sportfacilities and sport programs suitable to the needs and health limitations of older adults. Lacking socialsupport represents other important limitation. Health conditions are often mentioned as a major barrierfor active participation in physical activity and it does not matter whether it is an objective evaluationof health problems or a subjective unspecified feeling.

When discussing the motivation of older adults for physical activity, it is important to mention theimpact of personality factors. They consist not only of emotional experiences fueling positive attitudesto active sport participation but they are also represented by social cognitive factors motivating theparticipation in physical activity. Social cognitive theory argues that the changes in individual behaviorare determined by changes in self-regulation (McAuley et al. 2011). Self-regulation is usually definedas a regulation of goal-oriented behavior (i.e. physical activity) and it includes various strategies, suchas goal setting, seeking reinforcements and social support, self-monitoring and various corrective self-reactions. Another important motivational variable is represented by self-efficacy which is defined as abelief people have about their capacity to perform an activity (Bandura 1997; McAulley et al. 2011).

3. PSYCHOSOCIAL CONTEXT OF SPORT PARTICIPATION IN OLDER ADULTS AS ARESEARCH TOPIC

Research studies of physical activity in older adults have been conducted mostly in the cultural contextof developed countries such as USA, Western Europe, or Australia (Cavill, Kahlmeier & Racioppi,2006; Nelson et al. 2007). The research mentioned above (Hawkins, Foose, & Binkley 2004) consideredan impact of two various cultural contexts with differing approaches to leisure physical activity. Thestudy concluded that Australians are a nation highly valuing physical activity whereas USA is a nationwith higher orientation towards passive consummation of sports.

In the Czech Republic, a number of studies researched the role of physical activity in the lives of olderadults, focusing on their well-being, health and life satisfaction. These studies have predominantly




focused on demographical and environmental factors (Slepička & Slepičková, 2002; Zavazalová et al.2007), and the social-psychological factors have been significantly less researched. Also, there have notbeen conducted any studies comparing psychosocial characteristics of Czech seniors and seniors fromother countries.

We conducted a study of physical activity in older adults which focused on the structure of their physicalactivity and also on social-cognitive influences related to their physical activity. The main goals wereto explain the role of self-regulation strategies in the motivation of sporting seniors and also to explorethe kinds of physical activity they engage in most often. We also researched the impact of culturaldifferences on these variables by including a comparison sample of US older adults.

3.1. Research methods

In the study we used self-rating questionnaires of physical activity The Leisure Time ExerciseQuestionnaire (LTEQ) (Godin & Shephard, 1985) a Physical Activity Survey for the Elderly (PASE)(Washburn et al. 1993) and a battery of questionnaires focusing on the implemented motivationalstrategies. We used following scales: Barriers Self-Efficacy (McAuley 1993) focusing on beliefs aboutone’s capacity to overcome obstacles of exercise; Exercise Planning and Scheduling Scale a ExerciseGoal-Setting Scale (Rovniak et al. 2002) focusing on motivational strategies such as planning and goalsetting; Social Support for Exercise (Sallis et al. 1987) focusing on perceived support for exercise fromfriends and family; and Physical Activity Self-Regulation (Umstattd et al. 2009; Washburn et al. 1993)focusing on a wide range of constructs related to self-regulation in older adults. As a method ofmeasuring the perceived health we used a 12-item questionnaire SF-12( 12-Item Short-Form HealthSurvey) (Ware, Kosinski & Keller 1996). This questionnaire focuses on global self-evaluation of health,perceived limitations stemming from the health conditions, and physical, emotional and social aspectsof perceived health. For measuring life satisfaction we used The Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener etal. 1985). This questionnaire has been frequently used in a variety of studies as a measure of global lifesatisfaction. It consists of five items which evaluate the satisfaction in various domains according torespondent’s values and standards. Every item consists of a 7 grade scale ranging from “stronglydisagree” to “strongly agree” where the higher score represents the higher level of life satisfaction. TheSatisfaction with Life Scale is an instrument with good inner consistency and validity and it is suitablefor research on the population of older adults (Diener et al. 1985).

3.2. Sample

426 older adults aged between 60-85 years participated in the study. 254 respondents lived in the CzechRepublic, specifically in the capital of Prague, regional capitals (Plzeň, Brno), and a medium sized town(Uherské Hradiště). 174 respondents come from the central part of the US state Pennsylvania. In bothsamples the majority of participants were women, with even higher proportion of women in the Czechsample. On average, the US sample was slightly older; both samples were similar in the BMI index andthe marital status with more US participants living in marriage. The main difference between bothsamples was in the social economic status. In the US sample, the respondents had predominantlyuniversity education, whereas the respondents in the Czech sample had predominantly high-schooleducation. Also, in the Czech sample, the average household income of most respondents was under20 000 CZK whereas in the US sample almost half of the respondents belonged to the group with amonthly household income over 5500 USD (about 95 000 CZK).




4. RESULTS

In the next part of the article we present selected results of the study documenting the psychosocialcontext of physical activity in seniors.

4.1. Participation in physical activity

When we researched the participation in physical activity we inquired about the types of physicalactivity the respondents engaged in. We differentiated between leisure sporting and non-sportingactivities and household related physical activity. In the following graphs, we compare the participationin these activities in the Czech and US sample on various levels of intensity.

Picture 1 Comparison of Czech and US seniors in the sporting physical activity on various levelsof intensity (%)

Picture 2 Comparison of Czech and US seniors in the non-sporting physical activity on variouslevels of intensity (%)

010

2030

4050

60

7080

90

mild p.a. moderate p.a. strenuous p.a.

USA

CZ

05

1015202530354045


USA

CZ




Picture 3 Comparison of Czech and US seniors in the household physical activity on variouslevels of intensity (%)

From these results it is obvious that Czech seniors participated in different activities than US seniors. InCzech seniors, the non-sporting activities conclusively dominated; especially the light and moderateintensity household activities such as working at cottage, gardening, and going for a walk,unambiguously prevailed. On the other hand, American seniors mostly indicated a participation inleisure sporting activities, such as group exercises and working out with sport equipment. At thestrenuous level of intensity, both groups showed more similarities. US participants mostly mentionedworking out with sporting equipment, cycling, and swimming. Czech participants mentionedpredominantly swimming and cycling.

4.2. Cognitive motivational strategies related to the participation in physical activity

Another goal of our study was to explore the cognitive motivational strategies which modify theparticipation in physical activity. We present some of our results in the following tables (** resultssignificant on 1% level, * on 5% level).

CZ USA

Lifestyle physical activity self-efficacy ** 60,47 80,05

Physical activity as displaced priority * 3,52 3,71

Planning and scheduling of physical activity 2,54 2,50

Goal setting of physical activity ** 2,19 1,88

Barriers self-efficacy ** 41,94 55,29

Table 1 Differences in self-efficacy motivational variables

0

10

20

30

40

50

60


USA

CZ




Lifestyle physical activity self-efficacy and Physical activity as displaced priority positively dominatedin the US sample. Also, American seniors strived more intensively to overcome situational barriers ofphysical activity. On the other hand, the Czech seniors indicated more goal setting related to physicalactivity. It may be related to the fact that they participated more in working non-sporting activity relatedto their normal everyday activities, such as shopping, household chores, or gardening.

CZ USA

Self-monitoring of physical activity ** 2,72 3,41

Goal-setting 3,18 3,30

Seeking social support 2,16 2,24

Seeking reinforcements of physical activity 3,56 3,64

Time management 3,07 3,26

Relapse prevention ** 2,40 2,96

Table 2 Differences in self-regulation related to physical activity

The concept of self-regulation consists of various variables related to self-regulation strategiesinfluencing physical activity, such as focusing on the health benefits, improving one’s looks, orregularity and intensity of participation. We observed also differences in relapse prevention which isrelated to preventing the occurrence of the physical activity barriers which may disturb the participationin lifestyle physical activity.

CZ USA

Perceived social support - family ** 2,54 2,91

Perceived social support – friends 2,66 2,59

Table 3 Social support – motivational differences

The US sample perceived stronger social support for exercise, especially in the social microclimate offamily. The social support from friends was slightly higher in the Czech sample but these results werenot statistically significant.

On the basis of these results, we may argue that aging acquires different meanings in the Czech and USsocieties which probably stems from different social-cultural traditions in both countries. In the US, theconcept of “active” or “successful” aging, emphasizing the activity and productivity in older age aswell as personal responsibility for “good” aging, has been well-established (Rowe & Kahn, 1998). Inthe Czech context, these concepts have emerged only recently (Holmerová et al. 2006; Zavazalová et al.2007). The notion of leisure sporting physical activity as a part of “active aging” seems to be much morepresent in the US sample than in the sample from the Czech Republic. In the Czech context, for exampleSlepička and Pěkný (2008) found that Czech older adults in their study emphasized the social aspects ofparticipation in physical activity over the physical activity itself. As the most important limitation of the




participation in physical activity, Czech older adults perceived insufficient social support andunavailability of exercise programs suitable to their needs and health limitations.

The cultural and social economical differences probably fuel a different approach to physical activity inboth countries. The US respondents stated significantly higher level of motivation to leisure sportingphysical activity. Their higher motivation consisted of higher self-monitoring, higher self-efficacyrelated to physical activity and higher perceived social support to physical activity. These results suggestthat the concept of physical activity as a part of “active aging” currently emphasized in the scientificand health discourse is much more present in the US than Czech older adults.

Some authors (Brawley, Rejeski & King 2003; Satariano & McAuley 2003) show that cultural normsmay limit accessibility of some kinds of physical activity which seems to be the case also in the Czechrespondents. Even when they participate in physical activity as such, they do not focus on leisure andsport activity which may limit their interest in these activities as well as their efficacy beliefs related tophysical activity (Satariano & McAuley 2003). These findings highlight the importance of interventionprograms which should in the Czech Republic focus on raising the awareness about the importance ofphysical activity and also on creating opportunities for Czech seniors to participate in physical activity.This applies, above all, to the light and moderate physical activity as the Czech seniors stated similaractivities at strenuous level of intensity; similarly to their US counterparts, they mostly mentionedcycling and swimming.

4.3. Physical activity, perceived health and life satisfaction in Czech older adults

An interesting topic related to physical activity in seniors is the impact of physical activity on perceivedhealth and life satisfaction. We also focused on this problem in our study of Czech seniors. In the secondphase of the study we examined the relationship between physical activity and perceived physical andpsychological health. We found a significant relationship between both constructs of perceived healthas measured by SF-12 questionnaire and leisure physical activity as measured by LTEQ questionnaire.The correlations were r=0.268 in physical health and r=0.231 in psychological health. On the other hand,weaker correlations were observed between perceived health and global physical activity as measuredby PASE questionnaire. The results suggest a positive health impact of leisure physical activity (seetable 4 - significant coefficients highlighted in bold). The results of our research add to other studies(e.g. Fox 1999; Leveille et al. 1999; Laurin et al. 2001; Kramer et al. 2003; Netz et al. 2005) whichshow the importance of physical activity for optimal functioning in older age. We found that perceivedhealth in our respondents correlated with their self-rated physical activity. However, it is important tonote that this relationship was significant only at strenuous and moderate intensity level and mildphysical activity was unrelated to perceived health. Also, when we compared respondents who meet/ donot meet the physical activity recommendations of World Health Organization (WHO 2010), theimportance of at least moderate level of physical activity stood out as the physically active respondentsperceived themselves as significantly more healthy than physically non-active respondents. Also otherstudies come to similar conclusions. For example Li et al. (2004) found that 24 weeks of moderatephysical activity (tai-chi) caused a significant increase of physical health in a group of seniors. Fox(1999) showed that participation in regular physical activity in older adults has therapeutic effects inlighter forms of depression and anxiety, increases the ability to cope with stress and positively influencesthe quality of sleep. Similarly Ruuskanen and Ruopilla (1995) found in Finish physically active seniorshigher perceived health and lower incidence of symptoms of depression.




Spearman rho Physical health

PASE Correlation Coefficient ,117*

Sig. (2-tailed) ,038

N 313

LTEQ Correlation Coefficient ,268**


N 274

LTEQ

Strenuous p.a.

Correlation Coefficient ,225*


N 109

LTEQ

Moderate p.a.

Correlation Coefficient ,239**


N 182

LTEQ

Light p.a.

Correlation Coefficient -,004


N 253

Table 4 Relationship between physical activity and perceived physical and psychological health

Perceived health is without a doubt also related to the global evaluation of one’s life represented by thelife satisfaction. We researched possible emotional outcomes of physical activity and analyzed therelationship between various levels of physical activity and the life satisfaction, as reflected in theLeisure Time Exercise Questionnaire and Satisfaction with Life scale. It was found that perceived lifesatisfaction was significantly related to moderate physical activity (r=0.27), even slightly strongerrelation was found between the life satisfaction and combined moderate and strenuous physical activity(r=0.27). On the other hand, there was no significant relationship between the life satisfaction and mildor only strenuous physical activity (see table 5 - statistically significant results highlighted in bold).

Type of P.A. / Items of SWL Ideal Conditions Satisfaction Goal attainment Change Total

Strenuous P.A.. 0,07 0,01 0,08 0,08 -0,01 0,04

Moderate P.A.. 0,28 0,11 0,15 0,23 0,19 0,27

Mild P.A.. 0,01 -0,08 -0,05 0,06 -0,04 -0,02

Strenuous and moderateP.A.. 0,28 0,11 0,21 0,26 0,17 0,27

Total P.A. 0,16 0,019 0,11 0,22 0,07 0,15

Table 5 Correlations between the type of physical activity and items of SWL scale (Spearman R)




Similar research results have been presented in many studies (Ruuskanen & Ruoppila 1995; Fox 1999;Penedo & Dahn 2005) suggesting a positive relationship between physical activity and life satisfaction.It was found that the respondents who met the recommended amount of physical activity usuallyindicated significantly higher level of satisfaction with life than the non-active ones. Fox (1999)overviewed up to date research on this topic and found extensive evidence of positive impact of physicalactivity on various emotional outcomes in seniors; for example, regular physical activity appeared to betherapeutic in mild forms of depression and anxiety, improved resiliency to stress or quality of sleep.Similarly, Ruuskanen and Ruopilla (1995) found significantly higher occurrence of depression in non-active Finish seniors; on the other hand, physically active seniors indicated significantly highersubjective health and perceived meaningfulness of life. This relationship seemed to be reciprocal–people who stated higher levels of subjective well-being were more inclined to be physically active inolder age.

However, it seems that not all types of physical activity were related to the positive emotional outcomesin the participants of our study. We observed a significant relationship between life satisfaction andmoderate physical activity or combined strenuous and moderate physical activity. Conversely, mild oronly strenuous physical activities were not significantly related to the life satisfaction. These resultsindicate that seniors should exert sufficient effort in order to make use of the beneficial effects ofphysical activity and, at the same time, that strenuous physical activity is not the most beneficial type ofactivity for the senior population.

5. CONCLUSIONS

In present study we strived to understand some cultural specifics of the participation of older adults inphysical activity. It seems that the concept of physical activity is not as widespread in the Czech seniorsas it is in Western countries. Therefore, we emphasize the importance of intervention programs becausethe respondents did not increase their participation in physical activity on their own. Apart from exerciseprograms, habitual physical activity should be also supported. Seniors may be able to overcome themotivational problems they often experience when physical activity is not their main focus but abyproduct of other activities. Educational programs and suitable exercise programs striving for higherinclusion of older adults in physical activity would be also very beneficial.

Furthermore, we found that physical activity in seniors was significantly related to their perceivedhealth. However, this finding applied only to some types of physical activity. We found a significantrelationship between perceived health and strenuous (r=0.27-0.50) and moderate physical activity(r=0.19-0.38). We did not find a significant relationship between perceived health and mild physicalactivity. Similarly, we found a significant relationship between the life satisfaction and moderatephysical activity or combined strenuous and moderate physical activity. Conversely, mild or onlystrenuous physical activity was not significantly related to the life satisfaction. These results indicatethat seniors should exert sufficient effort in order to make use of the beneficial effects of physical activityand, at the same time, that strenuous physical activity is not the most beneficial type of activity for thesenior population.

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A SEMIOTIC APPROACH IN TRAINING „THEORY OF COMPOSITION“

WITH STUDENTS MAJORING "ENGINEERING DESIGN"Stela B. Tasheva,

Institute of Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences,

21 Krakra Str. 1000 Sofia

AbstractHeuristic constructing of a composition scheme is a fundamental skill for designers. Years ofcomposition studies in the arts have shaped some distinctive interpretations on the subject in manydesign schools. So far the potentiality to inspire innovative and creative thinking has emerged as animportant direction in the process of teaching.

The report aims an initial exploration on the use of some semiotic ideas in training processes. It suggestssetting exercises with students while dividing them into two groups and giving them to analyze, compareand design contrasting semantic objects – antonyms.

Splitting attendees into teams and working on tasks with equivalent objects are widely used techniquesin the practice of design teaching. Still this report modifies this technique as a cognitive method basedon the concepts of „semiotic square“ and „semantic differential“. Thus the activities of the groups arenot focused on understanding a problem as a unique item, but on the juxtaposition and evaluation oftwo opposing problems.

In conclusion the paper discusses the appropriateness and scope of such teaching technique. Someresults of the approach are illustrated with examples from several exercises in composition design.

Key words: theory of composition, training composition, semiotic approach, contrasting semanticobjects - antonyms, design education

1. INTRODUCTION

According to Malone (2009, p.31) Heraclitus, who is often quoted as the founder of dialectics, claimsthat “All things come into being by conflict of opposites, and the sum of things flows like a stream.”Fighting opposites are basic for a large number of philosophic schools and doctrine, and also are justifiedand modeled in various aspects within information theories. Respectively to their type and degree ofdifference, these battling objects are called in addition mutually exclusive, incompatible, inverse and soon. In the report, they are marked with the common term «contrasting».

Some particular applications of contrasting objects took place in the training classes of «Theory ofComposition» with students profiled in «Engineering design» and are explored in the text below. Themain educational approaches applied in this course in the University of Forestry in Sofia are fullyexplained by Zheleva-Martins (2006, pp.323-328). The discipline is developed to open the main ideasin art composition philosophies and methodologies in series of lectures and training classes. Instead ofcreating one design project, the essence of the training classes is crafting of a number of small,conceptual tasks following the lectures and using drawing techniques, models, or visualizing software.




This way students are forced to enrich their visual thinking and expressing skills, explore the use ofmajor developments in design theories, and finally to create their own point of view.

2. SEMANTIC CODING AND CREATING CONTRAST

The term “contrast” is commonly defined as: “the state of being strikingly different from something elsein juxtaposition or close association”, (Oxford Dictionaries, 2013). Meanings of the word “contrast” canbe found in different areas of knowledge, covering the synonyms mentioned above. In photography,contrast is explained as the relative difference between light and dark parts in an image; in vision contrastratios are used to express the differences in color or in brightness between an object and its background;in linguistics, contrast is a specific syntactic relation – causative sentence connector, that compares twodifferent values or applications of one and the same quality, or represents a difference between sounds,used to distinguish meanings; in theory of literature contrast marks situations of confrontation, and soon...

A full, hundred percent contrast, exists much more as a logical construct than as a real life fact. In visualdisciplines contrast is usually modeled as ratio, and there are high and low ratio values. The humanjudgement of contrast is usually not quite precise and it outlines not one strict rate number, but wholeareas of close values. A relative contrast ratio may be found as numerical semantic differential scales(as in the task to evaluate the sense of contrast from 1 to 7). The labeled and unlabeled scales, as forexample the ones defined by Garland, (1990, p. Table 1), can also be used to express contrast. Eventhough these two are a quantitative but not qualitative tool, they are in bipolar relationship and suggestlinear evolution of the contrast, from one point to another.

Another model of contrast relationship may be found in the concept of Greimas semiotic square, asexplained in Hébert (2006). There the two contrasting items (term A and term B) are connected andexplored with their negations (terms Not-A and Not-B). Thus the contrast relations are deliveredbroader, in four non-linear areas and their links.

In theory of composition, contrast is a tool used for rising the interest and/or achieving a chosen artisticeffect. In design practice, contrast may be produced by light, shadow, colors, size, line types, silhouette,form, material, texture fractures and characteristics, emotional intimations, rationally deriveddifferences, movement, peace, style features, etc. Respectively, excellence in compositions may behunted by applying contrast in any of those aspects.

Precise understanding of possible contrast aspects positions and degrees (Figure. 1) strenghtens theability of a designer to express his ideas and to impress the viewers. The application of the semioticapproach and the analysis of semantic based contrasts in the training classes are the main explorationtarget of the study.

The theme of semiotics (the science exploring signs) in the course of "Theory of Composition,"introduces basic coding terms, processes and techniques. The main purpose of semiotic trainingsafterwards is to teach the students to recognize sign-elements, to apply the existing or to create newcodes in their designs. Through semiotic methodological apparatus students are probing their owncapabilities to express various meanings and achieve different levels of cultural coding in designelements and objects.

In the beginning students train to recognize different types of signs - icons, indexes and symbols asdefined in The Commens Dictionary of Pierce's Terms (2003) and to trace their use in design situations.




Then they create graphic compositions on given topics, while experimenting with the information input,with their own sign systems, and focused on chosen elements to achieve artistic effects.

Figure 1. Various representations of “black and white” contrast connection.

In the report, we are analyzing two tasks administered in the winter semester of 2012. Their final stageis creation of an image with semiotic characteristics on a given topic. The task requirements containelements of complex semantic contrast that must be explored by students. It is also suggested the use ofstorytelling, rather than abstract compositions, as to help the students to focus on semantic encoding oftheir images.

2.1 Case Study 1: Solar and Lunar Imaging

The selected topic for the first task are the Sun and the Moon, but such semi-contrast relationships canbe traced in semantic comparisons between other couples of terms, such as the elements of "fire" and"water", kinship as "father" and "son", philosophical categories like "spirit" and “matter”, etc. Althoughthose dialectical pairs are in strong opposition in some context, there is also a broad area of of theircommon characteristics. For example, apart from their astronomical nature, the differences between theSun and the Moon, are of course in their appearance, their time of presence and environment, their size,color, light reason or strength, impact, perception and etc... The common about them may be found asthey are both celestial bodies, they both light the Earth, they are both easily visible from the surface, andare individually or together participants in a huge amount of stories, myths, legends, religious beliefs,cultural traditions.

In the beginning of the exercises, without prior explanation, each student is asked to name "Sun" or"Moon" as a symbol, that he would like to investigate during the lesson. Thus, two groups of studentsare formed, who then begin to discuss and make lists of the semantic characteristics of each celestial




body. One person in each group is selected to monitor the increasing number of features of his group'ssymbol, so an element of competition also appears in the discussion.

After some initial listing of characteristics and general mapping of bipolar semantic fields for theselected globe, the groups notice that many of Sun's features have contrasting reflections with someMoon characteristics. (If the Sun is felt as "warm", the Moon is felt as "cold", if the Sun shines in the"day", the Moon shows up in "night", etc.) Usually these features are inverse or are felt as completelyconflicting due to contrasting cognitive effects of their perceptions one immediately after other.Directed carefully by the teacher, students form their own heuristic methodology of finding semanticfields by the use of already found features and implying the expected bipolar contrast. The groups areencouraged to trace the differences in perception of the Sun or Moon due to any cultural or subjectivevisions and distinctions. One of the raised discussion is usually the possible "sex" of the celestial bodies,as the students see it, or as a reference to popular myths and beliefs.

Gradually certain similarities between the globes are also revealed. (If the Sun is associated with “life”,the bipolar relation implies that the Moon must be associated with “death”. On the other hand the Moonis believed to influence phases of pregnancy and living, and to be involved in creating life processes,and Sun also could be disastrously hot and cause and mean death. Or as the Sun is connected with"growth" and “green”, also the Moon is connected with "high tides" and "harvest", etc.). Then thestudents are encouraged to grade the bipolar connections, to define the degree of their differences andto name the most expressive and the most common features of the globes. Afterwards the teacher raisesthe question about the existence of “Not-sun” and the “Not-moon” object and features. (Usually the firstsuggestion of “Not-sun” object is just the water or the wind, but the semantic field broadens quite fast.)

The purposes of this part of the exercises are first to activate the students' attention and partnership andat the same time to make them make the fullest possible register of semantic characteristics of anybipolar pair, based on their mutual knowledge and enthusiasm of participation.

Later on in discussion mode the listed features of the Sun and the Moon are distributed in different signcategories – as possible icons, indexes and symbols. This operations often reveal new, overlookedfeatures. (If stars are indexing the existence of the Moon, which is the respective index for the existenceof the Sun? If we can use the beach and the summer romance to symbol the Sun, how the beach and theromance are going to change as if to express the Moon? Is the Sun symbolizing the Moon in some degreeand vice versa?)

In the concluding part of the exercise, the students are assigned to create image – storytellingcomposition, in which they are coding one or more of the features of the globe, they have chosenpreviously. In addition students are offered to search more information about the themes of Sun andMoon and to present their data and final images to their colleagues. They also must find a number ofexamples of the use of solar and lunar symbols in the design practice.

Within the described way of processing the data, task conditions and sharing the information in thegroups, the observed ease of perception of the semiotic approach is noteworthy. The creative spirit raisesand we received overall high performance of a lot of students.

In the resulting compositions student are expected to train their skills to visualize and accent the degreeof importance of certain characteristics.

The final images presented can be grouped into several sections:

· Images interpreting solely the Sun and its specific characteristics, like those on Figure 2.




In them students are trying to locate the most impressive Sun features – such as the existence ofshadows, the time flow or the sense of nature and growth and to express it in visual way.

Figure 2. Compositions about “The Sun”

· Images expressing solely the Moon and its specific characteristics, like those on Figure 3. Inthem students are making accents on the sleep, the sense of night and the search for romantic lunarsymbols.

Figure 3. Compositions solely expressing “The Moon”




· Images interpreting the Sun or the Moon together like those on Figure 4. They are searching forcultural or emotional connection between the two celestial bodies although they are trying to expressthe existing contrast. Thus the viewers are not involved in experiencing the globes, but in s form ofcomparison.

Figure 4. Imaging “The Moon through the Sun” and “The Sun through the Moon”

2.2 Case Study 2: Analysis of Contrasting Semantic Objects – Antonyms

The aim of the second task is to assure the acquisition of semantic analysis, carried out by students ontheir own. More narrow meanings and concepts with higher contrast ratios, such as "moving - ceased","tensed - relaxed", "opened - closed", "external - internal", "chaotic - in order" and other are suggestedto be expressed graphically. The task takes the form of a small graphical test - design examination. Itconsists of independent imaging work for two hours. The conditions include graphic expressions of thefirst concept, another expression of the opposite term in a separate composition, and as a third one, ageneral image about possible "meeting" of these contrasting concepts or their mutual transformation.

To provoke frugality and accuracy of the drawing expression, some restrictions are made about the useditems and elements, such as the number of lines or words on the paper. Still students are recommendedthe use of story-telling in the images.

In the composition developments referring these tasks we can observe the pattern of common drawingcharacteristics in the three stages of compositions, and all the similar colors, lines and scales. In parallelwe are able to trace the artist search of tools for creating contrast. In the first composition on Figure 5,while exploring the couple "internal - external" contrast is expressed in very "conversational" way, butthe final effect is obtained with the general forms used as "inside" and "outside". The central part of thestudent's work is expressing the contrast differently - imposed with strong "dramatic" diagonal, dividingboth the drawing itself and also the whole panel of images - the peaceful sitting man in the left and thedynamic right silhouette. The other co-expressing tools include a set of elements with contrastingsemantic meanings, that are guiding the observer through the compositions. These are the presence of




artificial environment and a cage opposed to the open space and nature, the window-barrier versus thedistant sun and so on.

Figure 5. Compositions expressing “Outside - Inside” term couple

The next student is showing contrasting internal and external items, while creating dynamics throughthe hierarchy of square elements and fields. Finally the understanding of inside and outside is revealedas a matter of perspective: how we observe the positions of the elements.

In the third composition, the contrast ratio is exposed by breaking the boundaries between "inside andoutside" and suggesting an "exit" from closed to open. The author uses only the illusion of a box andtwo footprints in each image.

The compositions expressing the couple of "moving - ceased" (Figure 6) also use various techniques. Inthe first set of compositions, the state of peace or movement is shown by the nature of the lines: the freemovement expressed through free natural curves is suspended with severe urban objects – an artificialcity environment. The unifying third part of the compositions absorbs both line types with gentle upwardmovement, and is a visual combination of nature and city or freedom and discipline. In the secondexample the same subject in the composition relies on "comic" storytelling arrangement whileexperimenting with contrast imaging of traffic and the environment. The idea is expressed by starsfalling and then trapped on the ground, yet not wishing to separate. The author also experiments withthe contrasting, concave and convex environmental forms.




Figure 6. Compositions interpreting “Moving-Ceased” term couple

3. CONCLUSIONS

While explaining the design process Alexander (1964, p.26)), says: “We are searching for some kind ofharmony between two intangibles: a form which we have not yet designed and a context which wecannot properly describe.” In this perspective precise defining of positions, needs, expectations andmeanings is crucial for the design development, and all levels and forms of semantic encoding arepowerful tools for achieving high quality composition of final products.

The aim of the simultaneous study of contrasting semantic objects is to facilitates the processes ofsemiotic analysis and visual coding performed by students. The author believes that creating storytellingimages with their own context and coding system is an effective way to learn semiotic at some basiclevel and to prepare the students transfer their knowledge in more abstract way in the design process.The classes are also meant to provide intensive student participation and many options for interactivelesson conduction.

The resulting images show students high level of mastering semiotic concepts. The polls among studentsthat were conducted in the end of the semester showed their positive attitude and great deal ofappreciation towards the training classes. The enthusiasm and willingness shown when the attendeeswere interpreting and mastering the semiotic methodology was notable.

REFERENCES

Alexander, C. 1964, Notes on the Synthesis of Form, Harvard University Press

Bergman, M & Paavola, S, (eds), 2003, The Commens Dictionary of Pierce's Terms,

<http://www.helsinki.fi/science/commens/dictionary.html>

Garland, R, 1990, 'A Comparison of Three Forms of the Semantic Differential', Marketing Bulletin,vol. 1, no. 4, pp.19-24, Article 4, viewed 18 June 2013,

<http://marketing-bulletin.massey.ac.nz/V1/MB_V1_A4_Garland.pdf >

Hébert, L, 2006, 'The Semiotic Square', Signo, Louis Hébert (dir.), Rimouski (Quebec),




viewed 18 June 2013, <http://www.signosemio.com/greimas/semiotic-square.asp>

Malone, JC 2009, Psychology: Pythagoras to Present, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Oxford Dictionaries Online, 2013, contrast, Oxford University Press, viewed 16 June 2013,

<http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/contrast>

Zheleva-Martins, DI 2006, 'Theory of Form Formation / Theory of Composition: In Search ofDifferentia Specifica', Proceedings of the 4th engineering & Product Design Education InternationalConfererence, Salzburg, University of Applied Sciences, September 2006, Austria, Published byHadleys Ltd, United Kingdom, pp.323-328




FROM INTERDISCIPLINARITY TO CREATIVITY

Dobrina I. Zheleva-Martins Viana

University of Forestry, Sofia, Bulgaria, Department of Interior and Furniture Design.

10 Kliment Ohridski Bul. 1756 Sofia

Miroslava N. Petrova, ,

University of Forestry, Sofia, Bulgaria, Department of Interior and Furniture Design.

10 Kliment Ohridski Bul. 1756 Sofia

Stela B. Tasheva,

Institute of Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences,

21 Krakra Str. 1000 Sofia

AbstractThe aim of the paper is to display our experience of the concept we are applying in Theory ofcomposition educational course for students in Engineering design at the University of Forestry – Sofia.

The concept can be summarized as follows: Interdisciplinary education generates creative thinking.

The report will present how specific knowledge coming from topical modern sciences that have becomedominant in the rational knowledge of human psycho-physiology, perception, thinking and self-expression, can generate ideas and creative thinking in students when introduced in the teaching ofdesign. For example, in the teaching course of Theory of composition - the source of such knowledgeare the Humanities and interdisciplinary connection is made with psychology of perception, Gestaltpsychology, semiotics, semantics, critics and others.

The effect of this approach, consisting in the analysis of the overall success in the discipline and theactivation of students’ creative thinking will be presented in the conclusion.

Key words: Interdisciplinary education, Creativity, Theory of composition, Gestalt Principles,Semiotics

1. INTRODUCTION

In the paper will be presented student works on certain specific themes, generally imported from outsidethe field of design, from topical Humanities. These sciences are drivers of rational knowledge, humanpsychology, perception, self-expression and thinking. In teaching the course Theory of compositioninterdisciplinary bridges are built towards Humanities such as Psychology of perception, Gestaltpsychology, Semiotics, Arts etc. The course includes two lectures: one concerns the relation ofcomposition with psychology of perception, the other – the science of sigh systems and communication– semiotics.




2. PSYCHOLOGY OF PERCEPTION

The Psychology of perception lecture presents a synthesis of objective laws, mechanisms and sensesof human perception. It provides basic knowledge of the means for manipulating the recipient’sperception by the designer to achieve the sought idea and emotional impact. Students receive generalnotion on emotion and emotional impact of the design product on the perceiver. Special attention is paidon perception as the most fundamental cognitive act, act of selectivity, organization and transpositionof structures from the outer to the inner human world. The understanding that perception occurs in twoforms – knowledge and learning is elucidated. The ratiocination that to perceive something it has to beorganized and structured is also explained. Students are taught that contemporary views on perceptualprocesses result from the development of psychology of perception, including the gestalt theory. In thisaspect many concepts of composition as an instrument for behavioral manipulation have been changed.

The emphasis in this lecture is put on gestalt psychology. Gestalt is the spatial-visual form of theperceived objects. Essential postulate is that we perceive objects as a single entity rather than as a set ofindividual experiences. Perceptional organization occurs instantaneously, in the moment when we seeor hear different images and forms.

Gestalt psychology proves that the analysis of consciousness should focus not on the individual elementsbut on the overall mental images. Putting the image in the center of attention ever since its origin, gestaltpsychology has a great impact on the explanation of a number of theoretical formulations in arts,architecture and design. The lecture focuses on the application of gestalt in contemporary designexperience.

Gestalt psychology operates with basic principles and laws, some of which are discussed in detailbecause of their direct relation to composition in arts. Gestalt psychology’s main ideas, principles andlaws remain popular and topical and are wide-spread in academic literature on the theory of perceptionand theory of composition. For example these are the law of grouping and the law of the figure andground.

According to the law of figure-ground, we never see only shapes but dynamic figure-groundrelationships. The figure is seen more clearly than the background. In the field of arts and design thelaw is applied in the composition where depending on the treatment of particular elements – figures orground, the perception of the gestalt they constitute is influenced.

The law of grouping is used in composition to introduce harmony and hierarchy of elements. Gestaltpsychologists focus on the most important factors which determine grouping in the cognitive process.Such are the principles of proximity, similarity, good continuation, closure, symmetry, uniformconnectedness, common fate.

Special emphasis is put on the paradoxes in the organization of perception caused by the figure-groundrelationship. Such are the impossible figures, camouflage, optical illusions, and dual images. Theirapplication in art and design is specified.

Ways for interpretation in art and design of specific effects in perception such as phi phenomenon,persistence of vision, simultaneous contrast, and insight are also identified.

2.1 “Application of Gestalt Principles” Educational-Scientific Conference

In 2011 was held an educational-scientific conference on the theme “Application of Gestalt Principlesin Design”. In their papers students analyzed the essence of gestalt principles and their application indesign creativity.




Figure 1. Examples of conference posters

In the best posters announcing the event, awarded after a competition, students demonstrated theircreativity and the ability to connect graphic design with the conference theme and to express the meaningof signs in gestalt principles. We see the implementation of impossible figure, dual images, opticalillusions, ambiguous figure-ground, etc. Connotations for assemblage, furniture, fittings – hence designcan be found as well. Figure 1

Figure 2, 3. Two of the participants in the poster session;

CD "Student scientific-educational forums. Materials of educational-scientific conference:"Application of Gestalt Principles in Design" 2011

Materials from the conference were published on a CD, which opens a series titled “Student Scientific-Educational Forums”. Figure 2, 3




2.2 Figure-Ground Exercises

On the theme of gestalt principles in design, at the beginning students are given abstract compositions.They have the choice of visual means of expression, but the restrictive conditions we set turn theattention towards learning the specific elements, principles and laws of composition. Thus differentproblems are more profoundly analyzed, practical knowledge is obtained and an eye for composition ofvisual elements in emotional works is developed.

The objective of the first assignment is related to the study of the dynamic figure-ground relationship.In order to focus on the problem itself, the task is simplified to the highest degree – a letter of thealphabet which students design with their own style and type plays the role of the figure. The lettershould occupy 50% of the space in the format. Students experiment with the resulting negative shapesin the creation of new figural compositions and camouflage patterns. Figure 4

Figure 4. Exercises on “Figure-ground” and “Camouflage”

2.3 Laws and Principles of Grouping Exercises

The tendency of human perception to group elements which are adjacent, share common characteristics,are arranged consecutively on a straight or curved line, and the tendency of the mind to detect and addmissing parts and perceive the form in its entity if it is incomplete or a part is missing are the gestaltprinciples which students work on in a series of assignments.

Each of these principles has to be interpreted using the simplest compositional element – the point. Theprinciples must be applied in an abstract assignment but the aim is the mastered techniques to be usedin the future practice of the students in order to reduce the complexity of the compositions whilemaintaining visual interest and diversity; to focus on the relationship between the building blocks andto preserve the integrity of the composition; to direct deliberately the gaze and to facilitate thecompositional perception by the observer. Figure 5




It was experimented with the alteration of the brief to enable the creation of artistic compositionsbased on a selected gestalt principle or perception effect. Students were encouraged also to presentexamples of these principles from the design practice.

Figure 5. Exercises on gestalt principles of grouping: “Similarity”; “Good continuation”; ”CommonFate”; “Closure”

3.SEMIOTICS

The lecture Composition in the Context of Semiotics refers to the model of contemporary postmodernscience – semiotics. Semiotics is the general code of reality, or rather it is the way in which reality existfor us, its anthropological modus. The world is permeated with symbols, not to say that in fact consistsonly of symbols – says the prominent semiotician Thomas Sebeok (Сибиък, 1997).

Semiotics is the study of signs and sign systems used by people in various areas of living and public lifeincluding the field of art and design. This is a science for communication between humans through signs.The sign is a material, sensually perceptible object; it is an index, substitute or representative of aphenomenon that is not limited by nature. The sign is associated with the processes of learning andcommunication, every communication happens through signs, united in a sign system.

Iconic signs are copies of the designated objects. They are in a state of isomorphic correspondence withwhat they represent.

Indexical signs in visual-figurative form represent abstract ideas and concepts. As explained byChandler (2007), the relationship between signifier and signified is recognized on the basis of similarityor causality.

Symbols (conventional signs) are associated with the signified based on particular terms of agreementor established rules.

This classification by Peirce allows some blurring of the boundaries between different types of signsdepending on the level of conditionality and similarity.

Lotman (Лотман, 1973) proposes a simpler classification according which “Signs are divided into twogroups, conventional and iconic. In symbols link between expression and content is not internallymotivated.” Pictorial or iconic sign suggests that meaning is the only natural, intrinsic expression. Themost common case is the drawing.

In the sphere of sign studies in art there are other classifications such as the visual signs in design (signsperceived by sight). Semiotics is studied at different levels reflecting different “levels of abstraction”.Syntax studies signs and relationships between signs; semantics studies signs and their relationship tothe “outer world”, to the designated object; pragmatics studies signs and their relations with those who




use them, the relationship between signs and people. Pragmatics examines the perception of signs inspecific social and historical conditions, how signs emerge, influence and serve as a means of socialcommunication. All three levels are connected.

That part of the semantic information that is similarly decoded by most of the perceivers and which liesin the sign based on agreement, structural similarity or causal connection with the denotatum (the certainobject to denote) is called denotation. Connotation is that part of the semantic information that is derivedthrough associations in human psyche. Connotation is excluded from science – where uniformity issearched, but in the field of arts it is desirable and predefined, or on the contrary – unwanted andunintended consciously.

Special place in the lecture take the mechanisms of designation, semantization and coding in design.Designation refers sign to the mental equivalent of the designated object. In arts and design it means theexpression of the concept of the object. The process of signification in visual arts is a process ofsemantization or saturation with meaning of the image. The transmitted information by the image iscoded.

Coding is one of the most effective design tools. It represents the transformation of semantic informationinto a sign or combination of signs. Codes can be symbols, shapes, colours, sounds, etc.

Decoding is the reverse process – reading the semantic information of the sign or combination of signsbased on a specific code.

The lecture demonstrates the specific coding of ideas in architecture and design, using examples byRudolf Arnheim (Арнхейм, 1984, pp174-175) He explains the expressive embodiment of the functionalissues in the form illustrated by several types of ancient Greek vases. He finds them more simple andcomprehensible than architectural structures where form “translates” the functionality of the object intoexpressive language captured by perception. The result is a “visual analogy” of the utilitarian function.Regarding the understanding, semantization and coding of functions to achieve expressive furnitureforms, Arnheim cites Mies van der Rohe’s well-known Barcelona chair. He shows the saturation of formwith meanings through functional code. Coding can be analyzed likewise based on other codes and otherchannels of perception – tactile code, acoustic code, tactile code etc.

Students are assigned a homework essay on the theme “Analyze the semantics of the throne”. The aimis to learn how to differentiate the semantic information embodied into the ordinary chair from thespecial one – the throne, and to decode specific meanings of the selected throne. More complicated isthe essay given at the end of the course Theory of Composition – “Analyze and explain how thecompositional and emotional effect in Esher’s woodcut print “Sky and Water” is achieved”.

The topics of the essays are directly related to the lectures. The aim is to develop students’ ability topresent verbal analysis, thoughts and ideas, to reflect on the acquired interdisciplinary theoreticalknowledge and realize their direct use in design practice.

Briefs assigned as a kind of ongoing control on the theme of the interdisciplinary link between semioticsand composition are: “Analyze the semantics of “Azure” and “Expectation” furniture by youngBulgarian designer Gentcho Goev”; “Describe the meanings that should be encoded into a baby cradleor a crib. What principles of composition will you use to achieve them?” In the first case the decodingof meanings deliberately set by the author into the design product is concerned, the deciphering of thedesign text, while in the other case – the creative application of the acquired knowledge is concerned,the embodiment and coding of semantic information in design.




3.1 Symbol Exercises

Students are assigned to design a graphic symbol of the sun or the moon, expressing their notion of thechosen object through coding a specific emotional meaning. For this purpose each student makes averbal description of the characteristics and associations that the sun or the moon bears for him. Thechallenge is that they must convert this information into appropriate graphic elements while observingthe requirement to use only black, white and one chromatic colour. In this way the emphasis is furtherput on interpretation and stylization of subjective personal meanings which should be subsequentlyvisible and easily readable in the symbol each student has created. How successfully the task has beenperformed is determined at the end of the class in a critical discussion when the reverse process ofreading the coded semantic information by all other students is applied. Creative modification of thetask is to make artistic composition bearing the relevant semantic meaning but in the context of a self-contained expressive system offered by each student. Figure 6, 7

Figure 6, 7 Symbol exercises – “The sun” and “The moon”

3.2 Lines as Means of Communication Exercises

In other semiotic task students receive a couple of words with contrasting meaning (for exampleabundant-scarce; irritating-soothing; quiet-loud; impulsive-monotonous; successful-decaying;passionate-indifferent; interesting-boring; transient-ephemeral etc.) These antonyms should bepresented graphically using only lines as an expressive mean. The goal is to understand line’s differentmeanings depending on its direction, thickness and variation of its characteristics and respectively tolearn how to convey specific mood and emotion.

In a design-examination on the theme of the relationship between semiotics and composition wasassigned to do quick sketches of specific scenes expressing given pair of words and relations betweenthem. Figure 8

Figure 8. Sketches on the expression "inside-outside", "protector and protected”, "tense and relax"




3.3 “Semiotics and Design” Abstract Readings

In 2012 students organized abstract readings on the theme “Semiotics and Design”. A poster contest ofthe educational scientific forum was held. The theme of the event was interpreted in the posters asmeanings like “heart-love-design-iconic furniture”, “from the idea – to the realization, from beginning– to the end” or “day and night, light and darkness, sun and moon, nature and life”, dialectic relations,rhythm and symmetry, balance and beauty were coded. Figure 9

Figure 9 Examples of posters

Various aspects of the artistic composition in the terms of semiotics were reflected in the presentedpapers in this forum. Among the most interesting were: “Text and pictograms signage of information”,Metaphor in design”, “Semantics and style”, “Analysis of positive connotations in interior design”,“Cultural traditions as a code”, “Coding the dynamics and balance in furniture design”.

The program included also a quiz with questions on various topics such as “Metaphors in furnituredesign”. When displaying images of iconic furniture items students had to answer the questions – whatis the metaphor, who is the author, what is the name of the chair?

4.ConclusionIntroducing the knowledge about human perception psychology, the sign nature of communication, theapplication of some manipulation methods on human perception and behavior, opens new perspectivesin the field of design composition. The interpretation of this knowledge borrowed in design process fromGestalt psychology and semiotics, unlocks unexpected doors in imagination realms.

In 2012, our students competed to be presented with their achievements into the organized in cyberspace"Hall of Fame". This unique virtual exhibition was also visible on screens in the corridors of theUniversity of Forestry, which evoked deserved pride in the authors and nourished their self-esteem andaspirations for further creative expression.




In the interviews with our students that we did at the end of the academic years 2011/2012 and2012/2013, we found general satisfaction of their accomplishments and understanding of the importanceof the training in Theory of composition. Our survey shows high attendance rate, spirit of competitionand artistic creativity.

We can generally conclude – there is increased interest by the students in the Theory of compositioncourse. There is an atmosphere of addiction to the design profession. In our opinion the positive effectof applying the interdisciplinary approach is reflected in the resurgence of students’ creative thinkingthat led to a high level of overall success in the discipline.

Through the organized events students were involved in the mainstream of modern science, theyacquired knowledge by themselves and discussed it vigorously with their colleagues. The best studentsreceived certificates and participated in international design competitions, workshops, competitions andEuropean grants. Some of them have already received international awards.

REFERENCES

Арнхейм, Р 1984, Динамика архитектурных форм, Стройиздат, Москва, с. 174-5,

Лотман, ЮM 1973, Семиотика кино и проблемы киноэстетики, 1973, Ээсти Раамат, Таллин,Эстетика Вавилона, viewed 01 Februrary 2012,< http://zmier.iatp.by/books/kinoestetika.html >

Сибиък, TА 1997 Семиотиката в Съединените щати, Наука и изкуство, София

Chandler, D. Semiotics for Beginners, first edition 2002, second edition 2007, Aberystwyth University,viewed 01 Februrary <http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/semiotic.html >

Petrova, MN, Zheleva-Martins DI 2012, Interactive Methods in Engineering Design Education: OurExperience., Proceedins of the 14th International Conference on Engineering and Product DesignEducation, Design Education for Future Wellbeing, Antwerp, pp.15-21




MODELS OF PROCESSES TO ORGANIZE LEARNING FOR THE COMPETENCE-

ORIENTED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AT THE LEVEL OF DISCIPLINESLeda A. Sysoeva

Center of information systems and technologies in educational activity,

Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH),

125993, Moscow, Russian Federation. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Considering methodological aspects of use of process approach to the organization of educationalprocess at the level of discipline for the competence-based educational programs. Describing the modelof organizing the learning, in conjunction with PDCA cycle. Using examples of processes’ diagrams,developed based on PBMN notations. Advantages of process approach to quality management inlearning are defined.

Key words: the process approach, modeling the processes, the competence-oriented approach ineducation, PDCA cycle, BPMN notation, education quality management, software of modeling ofprocesses.

1. INTRODUCTION

Since 2011 institutions of higher education in the Russian Federation began preparing graduates withBachelor’s and Master’s degrees in educational standards according to the competence-based approach,which emerged through the evolution of development of educational systems. Such transition isn'tformal; it demands from each participant of educational process – from the head of an educationalprogram to each teacher – an essential revision of the content of education, models, methods andtechnologies of training, development of new control and measuring systems and means for monitoringand assessing of the process of forming the competences.

Complexity of transition to the new standards is caused by specifics of competences, which is noted inpublications of foreign and domestic researchers in the field of pedagogical measurements [6, 7, 10, 12,13]:

– competences are multifunctional (the high-level description of competences demands the generalizedformulations which include multiple functions, provided with the competences);

– competences are interconnected and interdependent (level of development of one or severalcompetences influences formation of other competences; interdependence of competences demandsdevelopment of hierarchy of competences; interrelations of competences allow to unite competences inclusters);

– competences are multifaceted (formation of each competence is carried out in the course ofdevelopment of a number of disciplines, which demands development of interdisciplinary means of anassessment of competences);




– competences are meta latent (properties and characteristics of competences and process of theirformation can be latent without manifesting itself explicitly, therefore, definition of the indicatorscharacterizing the level of formation of competences, demands special approaches and methods);

– manifestation of competences has the delayed characteristic (the assessment of competences can becarried out only after the end of training and after a graduate has been engaged in a professional activityfor a certain period of time, and during the training process the formation of competences can beestimated);

– interpretation of the grades of development levels of competences depends on the condition of themultiple-factor analysis and multidimensional scaling.

Considering specifics of competences, in order to transition to the new educational standards eachteacher (professor) of higher education institution must carry out "reengineering" of educational processfor each discipline taking into account requirements and specifics of competence-based approach.

The purpose of writing the given article in attempt of structuring and describing the types of activity ofthe teacher within the organization and conducting educational process on concrete discipline upontransition to new educational standards on the basis of process approach.

2. METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF USE OF PROCESS APPROACH UPONTRANSITION TO THE COMPETENCE-ORIENTED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS ATTHE LEVEL OF DISCIPLINESIntroduction of competence-based approach to training demands considerable changes in all fields ofactivity of the teacher of the higher education institution, including formation of the content ofdiscipline; preparation of methodical materials; choice and application of the corresponding methods,forms and tutorials; development of estimated means and forms of control of theoretical knowledge,practical abilities and formation of professional competences. Realization of problems of reengineeringof educational activity and ensuring required quality of formation of professional competences ofstudents is possible on condition of application of process approach.

Process approach is one of eight principles of quality management [4] which declares that "the desirableresult is reached more effectively when activity and appropriate resources operate as process" [4, p. 4].

There is a set of definitions of process, in particular, in standards on quality management "any activityin which resources for transformation of entrances to exits are used, can be considered as process" [4,p. 6].

In this article as a process we will understand the structured set of the interconnected and interactingtypes of the activities, transforming entrances to exits and directed to achieve a specific goal. Let'sconsider that: 1) process has one or several entries and will transform them to the defined, planned exits;2) process includes control and management devices necessary for reliable result with satisfactoryrequirements.

The accepted definition will be coordinated with the concept of process approach: "systematic definitionand management of processes applied by the organization and especially interaction of these processescan be considered as "process approach" [4, p. 6].

Considering that process is always purposeful, it has to include the analysis of requirements andformation of goals, monitoring, control and an assessment of current state of process, elaboration of




corrective actions in case of a deviation of indicators from admissible values. Therefore any processincludes two components: direct result creation (production of an exit) and management of resultcreation (production of an exit) [2, 5]. It agrees ITIL management of process is activities for planningand process ordering for the purpose of its effective, productive and coordinated implementation.

According to the concept of process approach the model of the organization of training at the level ofseparate discipline upon transition to new educational standards has to contain the processes coordinatedwith a cycle PDCA. Quality management cycle (PDCA) includes: Planning (Plan) – the description ofwhat needs to be done, when it must be done, who has to do it, how it should be done and by means ofwhat; Performance (Do) – performance of the planned jobs; Check (Check) – definition of level ofachievement of desirable result when working; Adjustment (Act) – performance of updating of planstaking into account information received at the Check Stage[2].

Figure 1 demonstrates the model of the organization of training at the level of a separate discipline withuse of the process approach, coordinated with the cycle PDCA is shown.

Fig. 1. Model of the organization of trainingat the level of separate discipline with use of process approach

The advantage of process approach is the opportunity to exercise the current control based on thecommunication between separate processes in system of processes, and also on their association andinteraction.

The main characteristics of process are:

· measurability (each process has to have the system of indicators and metrics);

· concrete, certain results;

· orientation toward consumer requirements;

· initiation of process by a specific event.

When using process approach it is necessary to consider requirements which are made to processes [2,

Processperformance

(Do)

Planning(Plan)

Management of process

Check(Check)

Adjustment(Act)

Continuous improvement of processConsumers (interested

parties)

Requirements

StudentsKnowledge,

abilities,levels of

competenceson an

entrance

Consumers (interested

parties)

Satisfaction

Students

Knowledge,abilities,levels of

competencesat the exit

PurposesData onprocess

realizationInput Output

InputOperatinginfluences




4]:

– processes have to be documented and regulated (which means the interconnected sequence ofactivities: they have to be defined; documented; controlled; regulated; measured);

– process owner must be identified for each process;

– the purposes of processes have to be defined in terms of sphere of activity of the organization,correspond to the purposes and strategy of the organization and to be measurable;

– the results of the work of process have to meet the requirements and to the norms established in a fieldof activity of the organization.

The considered characteristics of processes and their requirements, have to be considered at the trainingorganization on disciplines of the competence-based focused educational programs.

3. DEVELOPMENT OF MODELS OF PROCESSES OF THE ORGANIZATION OFTRAINING FOR THE COMPETENCE-BASED FOCUSED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMSAT THE LEVEL OF DISCIPLINES

Upon transition to the new educational standards the main accent is made on the end results of training,on degree of their compliance to purposes, on technologies of formation of competences and criteria oftheir grading. Considering that experience of the solution of these tasks in the higher education is stilltoo small, there are no established, scientifically worked techniques and technologies, each teacher isfaced with a complex challenge of preparation and conducting the training constructed on the basis ofcompetence-based approach, within a concrete discipline.

To identify and structure the types of jobs, which are required to be executed by the teacher duringreengineering of the activity during the organization and conducting training according to the newstandards, it is necessary to apply methodologies and methods of modeling of processes.

In this research as a simular of processes the notation of BPMN (BusinessProcessModelandNotation)developed on the basis of methodology of object-oriented modeling and the analysis is used. Formodeling SparxSystems firm EnterpriseArchitect (EA) was selected as an instrument software, whichis a powerful tool of visual modeling and supporting notation BPMN 2.0 (2011).

According to conceptual model of the organization of training at the level of separate discipline withuse of process approach (fig. 1) it is required to develop system of the models, allowing to describe thepurposes, tasks, the contents, roles, indicators of processes.

The technique of the organization of training at the level of separate discipline with use of processapproach includes the following stages.

Stage 1. Process description (information model of process).

The description of process is carried out according to the conceptual model of the organization ofeducational process at the level of separate discipline (fig. 1), recommendations of the servicemanagement [2, 3, 4] and represents information model of process. The example of information modelof process for discipline "Management of the project of information system" a framework of the maineducational program "Applied informatics" is presented in Table 1.




Table 1. Information model of process

№ Characteristic Description

1. Process name The training organization of discipline "Management of the project ofinformation system" (the competence-based focused educational program)

2. Process purpose Structurization and methodical support of all activities of the teacher at theorganization and conducting training on discipline – as a basis of ensuringefficiency of formation of professional competences of students

3. Process tasks Definition of methods and means of planning of a course.

Definition of methods, forms, means of conducting training.

Definition of methods and forms of measurement and control of educationalprocess and results of training.

Definition of methods of the analysis and assessment of results of training.

Decision-making for training improvement at the level of discipline.

4. Process politics The training organization of the discipline has to be carried outtaking into account the requirements and the norms consolidatedin:federal state educational standards (FSES), academic curricula (AC), provisionsand the normative documents accepted by educational institution.

5. Procedures(subprocesses)

Planning of a training course.

Carrying out a training course.

Measurement and control of indicators.

Analysis and assessment of productivity of process of training.

Making decisions on improvement of process of training.

6. Process initiation According to curricula: course 2, semester 4

7. Realization terms Beginning: first week 4 semester.

Termination: last week 4 semester.8. Process indicators Indicator of level of professional competences of pupils for the beginning of

studying of a course.

Indicator of level of professional competences of students at the end of studyinga course.

Indicator of discipline teacher satisfaction with the level of competences ofstudents, providing formation of same or interconnected / interdependentcompetences.

Indicator of employers’ satisfaction with level of competences of students.

Indicator of students’ satisfaction with educational process.

Indicator of an external assessment of level of professional competences ofstudents.




9. Interfaces andprocesscommunications

Entrance streams:

- requirements and norms to the discipline, fixed in federal state educationalstandards (FSES), academic curricula (AEP), in provisions on educational andmethodical activity at university;

- knowledge, abilities, levels of professional competences of pupils for thebeginning of studying of a course.

Output streams:

- knowledge, abilities, levels of professional competences of pupils at the end ofstudying of a course.

10. Process owner Teacher of a course (Surname, name)

11. Roles in process Teacher of a course.

Teachers interconnected / interdependent disciplines.

External experts in relation to this course.

12. The additionaldata

Preparation direction: "Applied informatics".

Qualification: Bachelor .

From above listed characteristics of process the process owner’s functions should be noted, in this caseis a teacher of a course, whose main function is ensuring compliance of process of training in theestablished norms and requirements. Within this responsibility he carries out:

- process design;

- documenting and publication of a process;

- definition of indicators of efficiency (KPI) for an assessment of productivity and rationality ofa process;

- assessment KPI and actions by results of an assessment;

- increase of productivity and rationality of process;

- participation in formation of the plan of improvement of process;

- the solution of a controversial questions and difficulties at process realization;

- awareness of a process participants;

- regular assessment of a process components;

- interaction with heads.

Stage 2. Creation of the contextual chart of a process.

In order to document and regulate the processes it is necessary to use models. Development of modelsbegins with the contextual chart of process – the chart of the top level which defines the sequence ofperforming actions or stages (fig. 2).

Considering the characteristics of process, caused by process approach, such as, measurability and a




certain result, it is necessary to reflect in model of the top level not only sequence, but also the purposes,rules of performance and key indicators of each stage.

On work flow charts in the notation BPMN of process details are displayed by means of responsibilityareas. In the contextual flow chart of training it is expedient to allocate such areas of responsibility, asthe purposes, rules, indicators (fig. 2).

Fig. 2. Contextual chart of the process

Stage 3. Development of flow charts.

As each component of the contextual chart represents a multipurpose set of works in the form of stages,it is expedient to consider them as separate processes, and then to describe their interrelations.

Thus, it is required to develop flow charts for the processes:· Planning: discipline planning;

Business Process 01.1.0.0. Contextual chart of the process

Stage Purposes Rules IndicatorsBeginningof theorganizationof training

IMPLEMENTATION:conducting training

CONTROL: measurementand control of indicators

ADJUSTMENT: analysisand assessment of

productivity of process oftraining

End of theorganizationof training

Preparation ofdiscipline forconducting training onthe basis ofcompetence-basedapproach

Planning is carried outtaking into accountrequirements of theFederal StateEducationalStandards (FSES), theacademic curricula(AC)

Indicators of importance ofdiscipline for formation ofprofessional competencesof pupilsIndicators of necessarylevel of knowledge,abili ties for the trainingbeginningIndicators of level offormation of competencesat the end of training

Ensuring conductingtraining on discipline toa basis ofcompetence-basedapproach

Preparation of processesof monitoring,measurements andassessment ofdevelopment of a course(knowledge, abi lities) andprocess of formation ofcompetences

Definition of methodsand means of theanalysis of level ofdeviations of keyindicators fromadmissible values

Control and assessmentof level of formation ofcompetences is carriedout taking into accountthe internationalsystems (ECTS)

Choice of methods,forms and the tutorialsdirected on providingdemanded level offormation ofcompetences

The analysis of thereceived results oftraining has to bedirected onidentification of thedirections ofimprovement of processof training and level offormation ofcompetences

System of indicators offormation ofcompetencesIndicators of the current,diagnostic check

Indicators of internaland external totalcontrol

The size of deviations ofkey indicators fromadmissible values at thelevel of certain pupils,groups of the pupils,separate competences,clusters of competences

PLANNING: disciplineplanning




· Implementation: conducting training;· Control: measurement and control of indicators;· Adjustment: analysis and assessment of productivity of process of training.

3.1 . Process model "Discipline planning".When developing the process model of “Discipline planning", and considering the requirements formeasurability and controllability of the processes, the field of the chart should be broken into thefollowing areas of responsibility: entrance objects; output objects; role: teacher of a course; indicators(fig. 3).

Fig. 3. Flowchart of the process "Training planning"

Business Process 01.1.1. Discipline planning

Entrance objects Teacher of a course Output objects IndicatorsPlanningbeginning

The analysis of system of thecompetences formed in the

course of training on discipl ine

Federal StateEducational Standards(FSES)

The academiccurricula (AC)

Passport of competences

Course program

Definition of the contents andintrinsic characteristics of

manifestation of eachcompetence

Definition of forms, methods andmeans of formation of

competence of trainingconditions

Definition of demanded levels ofproficiency by competences at

grade levels

Definition of estimated meansand scales for estimation of levelof formation of competences by

students

Planning iscomplete

Provision on system oftest units and rating ofeducationalachievements of students

Importance of thecompetencesformed in thecourse of training,in cumulativeexpected result ofeducation of thegraduate of highereducationinsti tution

Matrix of interference andinterdependence of competences

Matrix of indicators of importanceof discipl ine for formedcompetences

Indicators ofinterference andinterdependence ofcompetences

Indicators ofimportance ofdiscipline forcompetenceformation

Intrinsic signs of manifestationof competence at the level ofdiscipline

The card of comparison of thecontents to formed competences

Planned levelsof formation ofcompetences

The methods of training providingformation of competences

Forms and control methods ofprocess of development ofcompetences students

Measuring instruments necessary forestimation of competences

Table of levels of formation ofcompetences




Fig. 4. Flowchart of the process "Conducting training"

The main stages of the process:

1) the analysis of system of the competences, being formed in the course of training on discipline(output objects: matrix of interference and interdependence of competences; matrix of indicatorsof importance of discipline for the forming competences);

2) definition of the contents and intrinsic characteristics of manifestation of each competence (outputobjects: intrinsic signs of manifestation of competence at the level of discipline; the map ofcomparison of the contents to formed competences);

Business Process 01.1.2. Conducting training

Entrance objects Teacher of a course Pupil of a course (student) Output objects Indicators

Trainingbeginning

Carrying out entrancecontrol

Assessment of level ofproficiency of

competence for thetraining beginning

There is anecessarylevel?

Additional preparationfor the admission to

training

Conductingeducational process

Development of themaintenance of a

course and formationof competences

Assessment ofindicators offormation ofcompetences

Performance of tasks ofentrance control

Performance of tasks ofthe current and

diagnostic check

Carrying out thecurrent and

diagnostic check

Making decision onexpeditiouscorrection of

maintaining a course

Completion oftraining at therate

Course program

The methods of trainingproviding formation ofcompetences

Forms and control methods ofprocess of development ofcompetences students

The card of comparison of thecontents to formed competences

Intrinsic signs of manifestation ofcompetence at the level ofdiscipline

Matrix of interference andinterdependence ofcompetences


Measuring instruments necessaryfor estimation of competences

Report on entrance control(Discipline of N)

Works of students onentrance control(Discipline of N)

Additional works ofstudents (Discipline of N)

Educational andmethodical materials

Results (works) ofeducational activity ofstudents (Disi tspl in N)

Magazine of the teacher(Discipl ine of N)

Works of students atthe current control

Reports on the currentand diagnostic check

The report on formationof competences on thebasis of indicators

Indicator oftheadmissionof studentsto coursestudying

Indicators oflevel ofcompetencesfor thetrainingbeginningon discipline

Indicators ofcompetencesof a disciplineframework

Indicatorsof thecurrentcontrol

Indicators ofdiagnosticcontrol

Yes

No




3) definition of forms, methods and means of formation of competences of training conditions(output objects: the methods of training providing formation of competences);

4) definition of required levels of proficiency in each competence (output objects: table of levels offormation of competences);

5) definition of estimated means and scales for estimation of level of formation of competences(output objects: forms and control methods of process of development of competences students;measuring instruments necessary for estimation of competences).

3.2. Process model "Conducting training".

Realization of training demands vigorous activity from both teacher and student, therefore whendeveloping model of process "Conducting training", the chart should be divided into the following areasof responsibility: entrance objects; output objects; role 1: teacher of a course; role 2: pupil of a course(student); indicators (fig. 4).

Primary activities of the teacher in the course of conducting training:

1) carrying out entrance control;

2) assessment of level of proficiency in competences of each student at the beginning of the trainingcourse;

3) conducting educational process;

4) carrying out the current and diagnostic controls;

5) assessment of indicators of formation of competences in pupils;

6) making decisions on expeditious correction of maintaining a course.

Primary activities of students in the course of training:

1) performance of tasks of entrance control (in case of need – additional preparation for the admissionto training at the rate);

2) development of the maintenance of a course, performance of the practical tasks directed onformation of the corresponding competences;

3) performance of tasks of the current and diagnostic check.

3.3. Process model "Training control".

Measurement and control of the training process indicators are carried out directly by participants ofrealization of the training process (internal control), and by external experts (external control). Thereforewhen developing model of process "Training control" the chart should be divided into the followingareas of responsibility: entrance/output objects; role 1: teacher of a course; role 2: participants of externalcontrol; indicators (fig. 5).

Primary activities of the teacher in the course of control:

1) formation of the schedule of carrying out estimated actions;

2) control and assessment of level of formation of competences of pupils;

3) integrative assessment of level of formation of competences in pupils at the level of discipline;

4) assessment of level of formation of competences of pupils with use of dynamic approach at the




Fig. 5. Flowchart of process "Training control"

5) level of discipline.

Primary activities of participants of the external control:

Business Process 01.1.3. Training control

Entrance/output objects Teacher of a course Participants of external control IndicatorsControlbeginning

Control and assessment oflevel of formation of

competences of students(groups of students)

External control andassessment of level of

formation ofcompetences of students

(groups of students)

Integrative assessment of levelof formation of competences of

students within discipline

Formation of the schedule ofcarrying out estimated

actions

Assessment of level offormation of competences with

use of dynamic approach atthe level of discipline

End of control

Control and assessment ofprocess of training

Forms and controlmethods of processof development ofcompetencesstudents

Measuringinstruments necessaryfor estimation ofcompetences


Matrix of interference andinterdependence ofcompetences

Intrinsic signs ofmanifestation ofcompetence at thelevel of discipl ine

Indicators of anintegrativeassessment oflevel ofdevelopment ofcompetences

Indicators ofinternalquanti tative andhigh-qualitymeasurements

Indicators ofexternalhigh-qual ity andquantitativemeasurements

Schedule of estimatedprocedures

Indicators oflevel ofadequacy of thecontents,methods andforms of controlto formedcompetences

Indicators offormation ofcompetenceswi th use ofdynamicapproach

Indicators ofefficiency ofprocess oftraining at thelevel ofdiscipline

Resul ts of an assessment oflevel of formation ofcompetences

Resul ts of development of disciplineand assessment of process of training

Report on formation of competences(dynamic approach)




Fig. 6. Flowchart of process "Analysis and assessment of productivity of process"

Business Process 01.1.4. Analysis and assessment of productiv ity of the process

Entrance/output objects Teacher of a course Participants of an external assessment Indicators

Analysisbeginning

The analysis of complianceof the reached level of

competences of students tosystem of requirements (at

the level of groups)

External assessment ofcompliance of the reached

level of competences ofstudents to system of

requirements (at the level ofgroups)

Results of development ofdiscipline and assessment ofprocess of training

Results of an assessment oflevel of formation ofcompetences

Report on formation ofcompetences (dynamicapproach)

Results of the criteria focusedassessment

Dynamics of formation ofcompetences at the level of aneducational program

Assessment of formation ofcompetences with use ofdynamic approach at thelevel of an educational

program

Development ofrecommendations about

improvement of thecontents, forms, methodsand tutorials on discipline

Recommendations aboutimprovement of process oftraining from externalexperts

Formation of the directionsof improvement of the

contents, forms, methodsand tutorials

Making decision onupdating of the contents,

forms, methods and tutorialson discipline

Analysistermination

Decision on improvement ofprocess of training ondiscipl ine

Recommendationsabout improvementof process oftraining by results ofdinacheskyapproach to anassessment

Indicators of thecri teria focusedassessment oflevel of formationof competences

Indicators ofcompliance ofthe contents,methods, formsand tutorials toformedcompetences

Indicators ofcompliance ofthe contents,methods andcontrol forms foran assessment oflevel offormation ofcompetences




1) external control and assessment of level of formation of competences in pupils;

2) control of the training process.

3.4. Process model "Analysis and assessment of productivity of the process".

The analysis of productivity of the training process is made for the purpose of identification of thedirections of improvement of the training process and formation of competences in students on the basisof an assessment of the key indicators deviations of processes from permissible values.

When developing model of process "The analysis and an assessment of productivity of process" thechart should be divided into the following areas of responsibility: entrance/output objects; role 1: teacherof a course; role 2: participants of an external assessment; indicators (fig. 6).

Primary activities of the teacher in the course of the analysis and an assessment of process productivity:

1) the analysis of compliance of the reached level of competences of students with systemrequirements;

2) assessment of formation of competences with use of dynamic approach at the level of aneducational program;

3) formation of the directions of improvement of the contents, forms, methods and tutorials;

4) making decision on updating of the contents, forms, methods and tutorials on discipline.

Primary activities of external participants of the analysis:

1) external assessment of compliance of the reached level of competences of students with systemrequirements (at the level of groups);

2) development of recommendations about improvement of the contents, forms, methods andtutorials on discipline.

4. CONCLUSION

Utilization of process approach during training organization allows:

– increase controllability of educational process on the basis of identification and structurization of thetypes of activity, the necessary entrance data, used resources and expected results;

– create the system of process indicators, methods of their measurements and to carry out different typesof monitoring to provide a required level of training quality;

– maintain training quality, since the processes, structured according to a cycle PDCA, becomemeasurable, due to the possibility of development of norms and requirements for realization of eachstage and a type of activity.

REFERENCES

1. Glossary of Terms and Definitions (2009) ITIL V3 Glossary v0.92, 30 April 2009. Access mode:http://www.itexpert.ru/rus/biblio/itil_v3/ITILV3_Glossary_Russian_v092_2009.pdf.

2. GOST R ISO/IEC 20000-1-2010. (2010) Information technology. Management of services. Part1. Specification. – Introduction. 2011-07-01. – M.: Standardinform, 2011. – IV, 15 p.




3. GOST R ISO/IEC 20000-2-2010. (2010) Information technology. Management of services. Part2. Code of practical activities. – Introduction. 2011-07-01. – M.: Standardinform, 2011. – VI, 28 p.

4. GOST R ISO 9000-2008. (2008) Quality management system. Fundamentals and vocabulary. –Introduction. 2008-03-18. – M.: Standardinform, 2008. – 36 p.

5. ITIL (2011) Official site ITIL. Access mode: http://www.itil-officialsite.com.

6. A competence-oriented teaching and learning approach (2012). Project-Mentoring in EngineeringEducation. Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 2012. IEEE. – Режим доступа:http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?reload=true&arnumber=6201044.

7. Baydenko, V. I. (2012) Design and realization of the competence-based focused educationalprograms of the higher education: European experience / V.I. Baydenko, N.I. Maksimov, N.A.Selezneva. – M: FGBOU VPO "MGTU named A.N. Kosygin" , 2012. – 153 p.

8. Bronner, M. (2007) Learning at Work How to Support Individual and Organizational Learning/Michael Bronner, Bridget N. O’Connor, Chester Delaney. HRD Press, Inc. Amherst Massachusetts.

9. Bolotov, VA. (2005) About creation of the all-Russian system of an assessment of educationquality// Education Questions. – 2005. – № 1. – P.5–10.

10. Bolotov, V.A. (2012) Russian system of an assessment of education quality: what have welearned in 10 years? / V.A. Bolotov, I.A. Valdman, G.S. Kovalyova// Tendencies of a developmentof education: problems of management and assessment of education quality. Materials of the VIIIInternational scientific and practical conference. М.: University book, 2012. – P.22–31.

11. Crocker, L. (2010) Introduction in the classical and modern theory of tests/ L. Crocker, J. Algina.– М.: Logos, 2010. – 664 p.

12. Grigny, V. (2011) Assessment of educational achievements on national level / V. Grigny,T. Kellagan. – M: Logos, 2011.

13. Polivanova, K.N. (2010) National and international programs of an assessment of educationquality: educational guide. – М.: Logos, 2010. – 203 p.

14. Stracke, Christian M. (2006): "Process-oriented Quality Management", in: Ehlers, UlfDaniel/Pawlowski, Jan Martin (Eds.): Handbook on Quality and Standardisation in E-Learning. Berlin:Springer. 79-96. [also online available on: http://www.qed-info.de/downloads]

15. Zvonnikov, V. I. (2011) Modern means of estimation of training results: educational guide / V.I. Zvonnikov, M. B. Chelyshkova. – Edition 4th. – М.: «Academy », 2011. – 224 p.

16. Zvonnikov, V. I. (2012) Assessment of quality of training results during certification(competence-based approach): educational guide/ V. I. Zvonnikov, M. B. Chelyshkova. – Edition2nd, updated – М.: Logos, 2012. – 280 p.




INVESTIGATING CRITERIAL FEATURES OF EFL TEXTBOOKS BASED ON THE CEFR

Yasuo Nakatani

Hosei University

4342 Aihara-machi, Machida-shi, Tokyo 194-0298 JAPAN

Abstract

This paper explores an approach that could highlight a range of potentially criterial features (CF) thatmight help users to distinguish one level from another in the CEFR (Common European Framework ofReference for Languages). The CEFR could be used for the instruction and assessment of foreignlanguages learning. The descriptors are regarded as the useful guidelines to describe achievements oflearners of foreign languages. However, as the reference levels were developed by focusing onEuropean languages, it seems to be difficult to introduce the CEFR as it is in EFL (English as a foreignlanguage) contexts such as Japan. The study investigates which text characteristics could be used todiscriminate the texts in learning materials for EFL learners at individual levels. The results of corpusanalysis on six textbooks indicate that the frequency and complexity of modal verb usage can be usedas useful indicators to identify specific levels.

Key words: CEFR, Criterial features, Corpus analysis, Modal verb usage

1. INTRODUCTION

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) has been developed in orderto provide a relevant planning tool to promote transparency and coherence in language education. It isregarded as the useful guideline to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe(e.g., Little, 2007). It has been used for the instruction and assessment of foreign languages in manycountries (e.g., North, 2007). Thus, the scheme seems to be useful for English as a foreign language(EFL) contexts such as Japan where there is little coherence in English education.

However, as the Reference Levels of the CEFR was developed by focusing on European languages, itseems to be difficult for teachers to introduce the CEFR in Asia as it is (Nakatani, 2009). Therefore, theapplicability of CEFR-J which is the modified version for Japanese EFL learners has been explored (see,e.g. Nakatani, 2012). As the development of this framework is still preliminary stage, we need toinvestigate the precise descriptions of individual levels.

Another critical issue is that it is difficult to find relevant textbooks promoting transparency andcoherence in EFL education in Japan (Nakatani, 2010). Although the CEFR consist of six proficiencylevels from A1 to C2, it is not easy to assess the level of EFL leaners and decide the suitable textbooksfor them. We may solve the problem by having an explicit set of criterial features (CF) indicatingtransitions from one level to the next in order to reveal discrimination between levels.

Hawkins and Filipović (2012) argue the usage of modal verbs could be an appropriate discriminatingfeature. The modal verb use is an important element in English and it is not easy for EFL learners tounderstand how to use them properly. Therefore it is meaningful to instruct the usage by introducingrelevant textbooks according to the level of students. However, there is little research which investigateswhether specific modal verb usage can be CF in English learning textbooks. Accordingly, the current




research examines whether the frequency and complexity of modal verb use can be utilized as usefulindicators to identify specific EFL levels and textbooks.

2. MODAL VERB USAGE AND CRITERIAL FEATURES

In order to support to teachers in applying the CEFR to their classroom contexts, the Core Inventory forGeneral English was presented by British Council (North, Ortega and Sheehan, 2010). The aim is toprovide a practical inventory of language points that should be a part of a balanced course at individuallevels of the CEFR. The project team of British Council investigated course syllabuses and textbooks ofschools introducing CEFR, and analyzed the survey results from the teachers. Thus the inventory is notbased on actual learners’ performance in experimental studies. As seen in Table 1, this inventory mapsspecific modal verb usages pointing to different CEFR levels.

Table 1 Modal usage according to the Core Inventory for General English (p. 19)

Although the inventory has become a useful guideline for teachers, it is not clear how learners performin authentic tasks. In order to enhance the situation, the English Profile Program (EPP) using empiricalmethods has been developed. EPP uses the corpus analysis based on 10 million words of CambridgeLearners Corpus covering both spoken (20%) and written (80%) language. By using this approach, ithas become clearer how individual level candidates have specific features of modal verb usage. EPPpresents the following CF for modal verbs (Hawkins & Filipović, 2012: 148-151).




Criterial features for A2

MAY, CAN and MIGHT in the Possibility (epistemic) sense

MUST in the Obligation

SHOULD in the Advice

Criterial features for B1

May in the Permission (deontic) sense

MUST in the Necessity (epistemic) sense

SHOULD in the Probability (epistemic) sense

Criterial features for B2

It Extraposition with infinitival phrases,

e.g., It would be helpful to work in your group as well

Criterial features for C1

MIGHT in the Permission (deontic) sense

There are some discrepancies between Core Inventory and CF of EPP. For instance, MUST in theObligation is regarded as CF for B1 in the Core Inventory but it is CF for A2 in EPP. The results indicatethat teachers’ recognition may be different from that of learners’ actual performance.

3. STUDY

3.1 Research questions

In this study, the corpus analysis was used to examine the following hypotheses.

Hypothesis 1: There are specific tendencies regarding the type and amount of modal verb usageaccording to individual levels in the CEFR-oriented textbooks.

Hypothesis 2: EPP criterial features for the individual levels correspond to the quantity of the specificmodal verbs in the textbooks of the target levels.

3.2 Method

The current study investigates the features of modal verb usage in six CEFR-oriented text bookspublished by City & Guilds. These textbooks are developed to prepare students for International Englishfor Speakers of Other Language (IESOL) examinations. IESOL consists of six different level tests whichtargets on individual level descriptors of CEFR: A1-C2. The scanned text files were used to develop theCEFR Text Corpus (CERFTC). The corpus contains 197,309 running words in total. The corpus analysissoftware WordSmith Ver.5 was used to analyze the frequency of the use of modal verbs and theappearance of the CF in individual textbooks. As seen in the Table 1, each textbook consists of differentcorpus size. Thus, the frequency of modal verb use was compared by the occurrence in every 10,000words.




Table 1 Corpus size of each textbook

In order to examine the Hypothesis 1, the frequency of specific modal verbs in each level was comparedwith the frequency in its lower level by using the Log Likelihood Statistic which is regarded as thereliable method for corpus comparison (see e.g. Rayson & Garside, 2000). To test the Hypothesis 2, itis examined whether the modal verb CF occur in the presented levels by EPP.

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Frequency of modal verb

As seen in the Table 2 and Figure 1, some modal verbs are more frequently used in the texts fromspecific levels.

Table 2 Frequency of modal verbs out of every 10,000 words in each textbook

Significantly more used than lower level, *: p < .05, ** :p < .01, *** :p < .001,

Figure 1 Frequent use of modal verbs in CEFR-based textbooks.

Textbooks A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2 Total

Corpus size 18,513 22,385 30,802 37,694 47,829 40,086 197,309

Frequency/10000 A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2

can 57.3 43.3 45.1 47.0 37.4 33.4

could 0 1.3 5.5** 14.3*** 13.2 14.5

may 7.0 11.2 9.1 14.3 16.3 12.5

might 0 2.2 2.9 5.8 5.9 8.0

should 0 1.3 5.5** 12.5** 9.0 11.2

will 14.0 16.5 27.9** 37.4* 33.9 34.4

would 4.9 3.1 10.1** 21.0*** 22.8 19.2

must 4.9 6.7 7.1 8.2 5.4 7.2

have to 3.8 5.4 7.8 9.6 7.9 9.2

ought to 0 0 0 0.8 0.4 0

need to 1.6 4.5 10.7* 11.1 8.4 10.0




For instance, could, should, will and would are significantly more used in B1 than A1 level. Furthermore,these modal verbs are significantly more used in B2 than B1 level. Therefore, in CEFR textbooks therewere specific tendencies in frequent use of modal verbs, which confirms the Hypothesis 1. The use ofmodal verbs is one of the most important elements in English discourse. The result indicates thatlearners are expected to learn these skills from B1 level. In particular, could, should and would arefrequently used as hedges and boosters which show the stance of information sender’s on a particularsubject and the strength of the claims they are making. It is claimed that the appropriate use of hedgingstrategies for argumentation is a significant resource for learners and plays an important part indemonstrating competence in the discourse. Accordingly, the use of these strategies becomes moreimportant from B1 and B2 level learners.

4.2 Criterial features

As shown in Table 3, there are several correspondences between modal verb CF presented in EPP andtheir occurrences in the relevant textbooks. For instance, as seen in EPP, although the number is verysmall, CAN in the Possibility appears in A2 for the first time. MAY in the Possibility is seen from A2level very clearly. MIGHT in the Possibility is used from A2 level. As predicted, SHOULD in theAdvice appears from A2 level, and SHOULD in the Probability is more used from B1 levels. Althoughthere is only one case, MUST in the Necessity appears from B1. These results suggest that to someextent, CF presented in EPP correspond with the target level textbooks.

However, there are several discrepancies between CF for modal verbs suggested by EPP and thoseoccurrences in the textbooks. For example, although MUST in the Obligation is CF for A2, it isfrequently used in A1. MIGHT in the Permission which is CF for C1 never occurs in any levels. ItExtraposition would which is CF for C1never appears, either.

In short, CF for CEFR levels seems to correspond with the frequent use in the target level textbooks. Itmay be possible to use the CF for discrimination for the learners’ levels. It could be said that Hypothesis2 is partly confirmed. However, we need to pay attention to the points that it may be difficult to judge

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2

can

could

may

might

should

will

would

must

have to

ought to




the relevance in the higher levels such as C1 and C2. As discussed above, the number of some CF whichshould appear C1 or C2 level is very limited in the textbooks.

Table 3 Criterial features of modal verbs in EPP

5. CONCLUSIONS

Although the effectiveness of CEFR has been argued, there is little research regarding what kind of inputis relevant for specific EFL levels. CF suggested by the study on Cambridge Learners Corpus seems tobe a good indicator to evaluate learners’ levels and predict their next goals. However, there are fewstudies, to date, to examine the relationships between CF and CEFR-oriented textbooks. The currentstudy demonstrates that although there are a few gaps in the higher levels, CF and the textbook inputcould be interrelated. Therefore, we may use CF for the indicators for discriminating EFL learns’ level.It is also meaningful to introduce the textbooks which target on CEFR into classroom contexts.

A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2 Possibility Permission It ExtrapositionPermission may, can, might may might

Obigation Necessity must mustAdvice Probability should should

can ability-permission 106 96 possibility 0 1 Total 106 97

may possibility 1 11 25 permission 12 9 3 Total 13 20 28

might possibility 0 5 9 22 28 32 permission 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 0 5 9 22 28 32

should advice 0 3 15 probability 0 0 2 Total 0 3 17

must obligation 9 15 21 necessity 0 0 1 Total 9 15 22

would It Extraposition 0 0 Total 109 77




As this study deals with relatively small number of textbooks, it is important to investigate other relevanttextbooks in order to obtain more concrete evidence.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Project Number: 10211393;Principle investigator: Yukio Tono; 2012-2015).

REFERENCESLittle, D. (2007) The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Perspectives on the

making of supranational language education policy. The Modern Language Journal, 91,645-655.

Hawkins, A. J., and Filipović, L. (2012) Criterial Features in L2 English – Specifying the Reference

Levels of the Common European Framework. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

North, B. (2007) The CEFR Illustrative descriptor scales. The Modern Language Journal, 91,656-659.

Nakatani, Y. (2009) An interview study of English levels in international business contexts: An initial

qualitative data analysis for CEFR-J. Tokyo University of Science Kiyo, 42, 91-102.

Nakatani, Y. (2010) Identifying strategies that facilitate EFL learners’ oral communication: Aclassroom study using multiple data collection procedures. The Modern Language Journal, 94, 116-136.

Nakatani, Y. (2012) Exploring the implementation of the CEFR in Asian contexts: Focus on

communication strategies. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 46, 771 – 775.

North, B., Ortega, A., and Sheehan, S. (2010) Core Inventory for General English. British Council

EAQUALS.

Rayson, P. and Garside, R. (2000) Comparing corpora using frequency profiling. In proceedings of

the workshop on Comparing Corpora held in conjunction with the 38th annual meeting of the

Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL 2000). 1-8 October 2000, Hong Kong, 1- 6.




TEACHING PHILOSOPHY AND TEACHING TO PHILOSPHIZE: FROM CULTURAL

TO INTERCULTURAL DIDACTICS OF PHILOSOPHYThomas Sukopp

University of Siegen, Department of Philosophy, Adolf-Reichwein-Straße 2,

D-57068 Siegen, Germany

Abstract

Comparison of paradigms, i.e. guiding didactical models of how and why to teach Philosophy, explorestwo seemingly contradictory views: it is often assumed that to teach Philosophy means to read theclassics of Philosophy. Critics argue that teaching Philosophy implies learning how to think. I willexamine where exactly these two paradigms contradict and how we can reconcile the two concepts byfocusing on their particular strengths in the context of an Intercultural didactics of philosophy.

Key word: Intercultural didactics of philosophy, Culture, Interculturality, Learning philosophy vs.learning to philosophize

1. CULTURE AND INTERCULTURALITY OF PHILOSOPHY

Though it is difficult to define interculturality, we will argue that there is no gap between an cultural19

perspective and the realm of interculturality. This section aims first at showing how interculturalityrelating to the didactics of philosophy might be understood. Second, we will sketch how “Philosophy”could be understood, since learning and teaching Philosophy obviously depend on what we mean byusing the multifaceted term “Philosophy”20.

Apart from the subtleties of different paradigms in contemporary didactics of philosophy, it seems to beclear that teaching philosophy depends on dialogue. This seemingly trivial assumption does not implythat philosophical education is entirely a dialogical process, but claims that doing philosophy includesthe exchange of arguments, imposing questions, analyzing of the implications of possible answers etc.(see e.g. Kolb, Lin & Frisque 2005).

19 We should better say “innercultural”, but that word does not exist. We mean a perspective from and within aspecific culture.20 We assume a common understanding of “Philosophy” that is shared by many philosophers and teachers. Butthis is by no means trivial, since Philosophy can be understood in different ways. For a short discussion, see Murris2000, pp. 273f.; Münnix 2005, p. 101f. There are several different fundamental ideas as to what Philosophy is andwhat it ought to be: a) The systematic scientific engagement with philosophical problems, i.e. freedom of will,justice, existence and knowledge of the external world, the mind-body-problem, justification of public authority,understanding of human beings as culturally and/or biologically determined creatures, existence of god(s) etc.; b)Philosophy can be a form of life and a way to live; c) The essential feature of Philosophy is the reconstruction ofits History. d) Philosophy is a dialogical process of self-reflection and rational self-improvement. These and othernotions are important for many deliberations about how and why teaching Philosophy is different from otherdisciplines (see Duobliene 2005, 375-397).




Moreover, Philosophy includes both the cultural perspective and the perspective of your interlocutor.Think for example of Gadamer’s hermeneutics, the basic assumption about a fruitful, successfuldialogue: first, your interlocutor really wishes to say something; secondly, he or she may be right. Thisis, by the way, one presupposition also for intercultural discussion. What does a cultural perspectivemean? It is a shortcoming to think of strict barriers like “we” and “the others”, of “insider” and“outsider”. For example, what we call the “Christian” culture is intertwined with many non-Christianelements, e.g. of ancient Greek origins. Whatever “culture” may be, there are no monolithic, strictlyseparated cultural blocks. “We find interculturality within each culture, interculturality is inherent to thehuman being and that a unique culture is as incomprehensible and impossible as a single universallanguage and as one man alone. All cultures are the result of a continuous mutual fecundation.”(Panikkar2000, para. 96)

By using “Culture” we mean of course more than religions; that is to say, culture encompasses prevailingnorms, traditions, ideological points of view, sociological and political systems, habits of nutrition,architecture, technology etc. Since each culture is, strictly speaking, an extremely complex systemstrictly speaking, each individual “has” his/her its own culture that overlaps more or less with culturallyembedded habits, actions and views of other individuals. If these assumptions are true, a school classmight be e.g. ethnically homogenous, but is nonetheless culturally diverse. If we are looking for acomprehensive understanding of human culture, we should accept interculturality. “Interculturalitymeans neither one (single) culture, nor a disconnected plurality.” (Pannikar 2000, para. 99) Of course,there are other necessary conditions for successful intercultural dialogue but here is another importantcondition. “[I]nterculturality is the locus of dialogue. What is lacking to reach cultural conviviality isdialogical dialogue, whose condition, among others, is mutual respect.“ (Panikkar 2000, para. 136) Thisis already one pre-condition for the intercultural didactics of philosophy (in the following abbreviatedIDP)21. We will revert to this point in section 3.

Innercultural and intercultural diversity, partly leading to contradicting world-views, and ethical andpolitical conflicts, are certainly challenges for each teacher of philosophy. But philosophical thinking,according to Mall, enables us with the capability to think of cross-cultural similarities:

“[…] in spite of cultural [similarities; TS], there are fundamental similarities between differentphilosophical traditions. Philosophy in A world context today, i.e. philosophy cross-culturallyconsidered, pleads for the thesis that the general applicability of the concept of philosophy remainsunaffected by our recognition and acceptance of more than one genuine philosophical tradition.” (Mall1998, p. 17) This quotation motivates us to look not only at cultural differences, because the emphasisof difference often leads to exclusion. It is rather a motivation to look for universals, for that which weshare, which we have in common. In fact, Philosophy is an enterprise of mankind and it accepts universalstandards of argumentation. As a common sense realist, we think that we all (all human beings) livesurely in the same world. Even if this is true, Philosophy can “still remain compatible with the internal

21 Kroksmark (Kroksmark 1995, pp. 365-367) explicates different notions of the terms “didactics”, “pedagogy”and “Didaktik”. In spite of the fact that these and other relevant terms are used in different languages there is noconsensus how to use them in international discourses. We agree with Kroksmark in the following respect: “InScandinavia and in Germany for instance, the terms ‘pedagogik’ and ‘pädagogik’ respectively are used to coverthe concept of ‘Education’ and ‘Teaching.’ ‘Pedagogy,’ on the other hand, does not usually cover Scandinavianand the German terms ‘pedagogik’ and ‘pädagogik’ neither terminologically or conceptually, though it could easilybe assumed to. In terms of content ‘pedagogy’ tends to overlap ‘Teaching.’ In other words it is closer to a definitionin the pedagogic field which Scandinavians and Germans call ‘the science of teaching’ or ‘didaktik.’” (Kroksmark1995, p. 366)




cultural differentiation. Additionally to this, it is wrong to think that there is one fully homogeneousIndian or European or Chinese philosophy.” (Mall 1998, p. 17)

To summarize: For the purposes of intercultural philosophy it is of great importance to think ofphilosophy as a cross-cultural universal. Then we speak of Greek, Indian, Chinese Philosophy, and soon. Because these culturally embedded Philosophies interact and influences Philosophy as a cross-cultural -universal, because cultures are - from a specific cultural perspective - diverse andinhomogeneous, it is not sound to perpetuate the slogan of a pure culture or a pure Philosophy. Culturalexchange and ramifications of cultures can be traced back into the past to e.g. early cultures.

The underlying concept of philosophy can be put as follows: first, Philosophy is “born in particularcultures and thus is local in character, but it is not exhausted in any one of its manifold localmanifestations. […] There is no doubt about the cultural embeddedness of philosophy, but thisembeddedness does not mean the loss of the universalistic application of the generic concept ofphilosophy.” (Mall 2000, p. 4). Second, Philosophy “could be understood as the activity by which Manparticipates consciously and in a more or less critical manner in the discovery of reality, and orientshimself within the latter.” (Panikkar 2000, para. 35) Because our philosophical efforts, our discovery ofreality is a “partial, hypothetical, doubtful, imperfect, contingent discovery but a revelation in the lastanalysis” (Panikkar 2000, para. 42) we should not generalize our own culturally embedded philosophy.But this is no free ticket for an extensive, radical relativism. Though we did not say anything aboutcultural relativism or universalism, from a perspective of intercultural philosophy there might be nocultural universals in the following notion: “[…] there are no cultural universals, i.e. concretemeaningful contents valid for all the cultures for mankind throughout all times. What one calls humannature is an abstraction. And every abstraction is an operation of the mind which removes (abstracts)from a greater reality (as seen by this mind) something (less universal) which it considers important.There cannot be cultural universals, for it is culture itself which makes possible (and plausible) its ownuniversals.” (Panikkar 2000, para. 55) This does not contradict the view that nevertheless something isuniversal. “There are no cultural universals. But there are, for sure, human invariants. Every man eats,sleeps, walks, speaks, establishes relationships, thinks ... But the way according to which each one ofthe human invariants is lived and experienced in each culture is distinct and distinctive in each case.”(Panikkar 2000, para. 58)

2. LEARNING PHILOSOPHY OR LERANING HOW TO PHILOSOPHIZE?

We have just argued that philosophy is both culturally embedded, but nevertheless in certain respects auniversal enterprise. The question seems to be rather puzzling because it implies that learningPhilosophy is contrary to learning how to philosophize. Even more, it might suggest that learningPhilosophy excludes learning how to philosophize or has at least to be clearly distinguished from oneanother. Why is this question important? In this section, we argue that learning philosophy as a“product”, take out, as learning the classical positions by heart and learning how to philosophizecomplement one another (section 2.1). Furthermore, we advocate motivate the thesis that the paradigmof learning Philosophy as a more or less given canon of classical texts (from Plato to Quine) is a resultof a cultural perspective whereas teaching how to philosophize transcends the particular culturalperspective towards Philosophy as a discipline with universalistic applications and methods (section2.2).




2.1 Learning Philosophy and learning how to philosophize

The different styles of teaching and learning Philosophy including philosophical issues, methods, andresults of Philosophy range between the following extremes22: learning canonical texts without emphasison own understanding and own reflection. This sharpened characterization certainly has a negativeconnotation but at this point of our argumentation, we will not evaluate different positions. Withoutfurther exemplification, we take the Marxist-Leninist political philosophy and the Philosophy of Historyand classical canonical texts of occidental Philosophy as examples. Giving lessons in Philosophy meansa teacher-based, frontal and authoritative reading of canonical texts. The underlying attempt ofPhilosophy is that Philosophy is a collection of theories. Its results can be identified and be learned.

Contrary to this view is the position that Philosophy is a practice, an activity (Wittgenstein 1958, pp. 7,19 and 51)23. We cannot understand Philosophy without doing Philosophy. As Warburton puts it:“Philosophy isn’t a spectator sport.” (Warburton 2004, p. 3) You have to leave and give up yourspectator role and engage in doing philosophy. Doing includes reading, listening, discussion and writing.

Subsequent to these two concepts, we try to find points of contact, though due to our simplifications wewill not find many similarities. The first step of argumentation is that pupils need both and thereforeteachers of philosophy need to combine the first attempt – not in a strict dogmatic way – with the secondapproach. To think that one of the above mentioned ways as a guideline for philosophical educationwould exclusively be successful would be a shortcoming. Doing Philosophy without learning how touse its tools and without theoretical input often leads to confounding philosophy with fruitless effortsleading at the utmost to arbitrary results or to an extreme relativism. Thinking of Philosophy as a corpusof theories is a result of a restrictive understanding of “Philosophy” and may demotivate pupils, sinceown rethinking and reflecting is subordinated to a repetition of what the great thinkers had thought.Furthermore, it neglects the process-character of philosophy and excludes Philosophy as a life form.

Now, what can we learn for a didactics of philosophy? Relating to Kant (Münnix 2005, p. 102) we thinkof philosophical thinking as a source of potentials of reflection and potentials for reflection. ReadersThe readers might object that Kant is a western thinker and that his philosophical insights do nottranscend European thinking, whatever this might be. We argue that we only refer to methodologicalprinciples that might be fruitful for a didactics of philosophy in general. Ethnocentricity and othershortcomings do not follow from the following principles (Münnix 2005, p. 102f.):

1. Learn to think for yourself!

2. Try always to think as another human person may think.

22For a short overview of European traditions of teaching Philosophy in Schools, see e.g. Pfister 2010, pp. 132-137. For a more detailed and insightful summary of contemporary efforts in teaching Philosophy see UnitedNations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Social and Human Sciences Sector (ed.) 2007. Thisreport is not restricted to analyses of philosophical education in Europe and includes Asian, American, Australianand African considerations and many examples of philosophical education.23 Wittgenstein’s “Philosophical Investigations” − as it is known − explores the ideas of language-games and oflanguage as a human practice that is analyzed by philosophy. Though ‒ according to MacMillan ‒ we cannot “reada pedagogical theory off from Wittgenstein’s work” (MacMillan 1995, p. 169) one basic feature of language is itsuse. To understand language and therefore to understand a philosophical problem depends on how a word or aphrase can be understood in a specific language game. Nevertheless, Wittgenstein thinks of other acquisitions ofknowledge than “learning” (MacMillan 1995, p. 164f.).




3. Think in accordance with your own thinking and your own thoughts.

Ad 1: This principle aims at active, self-engaged and systematic reflective thinking. We just give oneexample to illustrate this principle: we point to Michel Tozzi’s proposals for teachers how to teachchildren how to philosophize (Tozzi 2009, pp. 55). “We should not subordinate awakening reflectivethinking to the presumed requirements of an age, language level or degree of maturity. People start todevelop their view of the world as soon as they have the language to put their experience into words, anexperience that will be reviewed in order to ‘extend their thinking’ (Kant) as they grow up.” (Tozzi2009, p. 58)

Ad 2: Here we refer to a principle of critical thinking.24 The school classes are members of a communityof inquiry (CI). “In a CI, all members aim at common objectives, share ideas and information with eachother, and try to be impartial and objective in their mutual criticism. Also, each member is urged to feelan interest in the beliefs and feelings of others and to respect differences of perspective […]” (Daniel &Auriac 2009, p. 422; see also Vancieleghem & Masschelein 2010, p. 138). More generally speaking,this principle implies to transcend subjective thoughts, interests and world views towards a point of viewthat enables the pupils to think of generalizability. Only if pupils are aware of other ways of thinkingwill they learn about the truth-seeking force of philosophy.

Ad 3: The third principle includes self-criticism, exposure of inconsistencies and an iterated proof ofinternal and external consistency (see e.g. Lipman 1986; Matthews 1980, pp. 56-66). This principle isopen to different methods of doing philosophy, e.g. neo-Socratic dialogue, free discussion, criticalthinking or a more text-focused philosophical education. It is closely related to the other two principlesbecause to think in self-accordance with yourself (in a non-tautologous manner) requires distinguishingyour thoughts from those of other people. To identify other thoughts, pupils discuss with one anotherand try to anticipate what another person might think.

The following argument will explore how we can integrate the so-called canonical texts into this schemaof philosophical didactics. First, it is insufficient to declare that canonical texts need no further didacticalconsiderations. The views that we call canonical or classical or essential differ. If we follow a kind ofprimitive didactics, we easily run into a naturalistic fallacy. From to pure existence of a given text(position, theory) it does not follow that we ought to read and teach these texts (positions, theories). AsMartens puts it, this approach only seems to be non-didactical, but is itself a specific nonreflectingerroneous didactics (Münnix 2005, p. 103, citing Martens 1983, p. 14).

Second, texts are nevertheless the basis for philosophical education. They should be read and discussedas befits the age and ability of the pupils. But the teacher needs to find a balance between a purelycontextual interpretation − that pupils give − on the one hand and of an entirely dogmatic interpretationof what a classical, great thinker “really” means. To say it more clearly, the role of the teacher is toswitch between frontal teaching (i.e. giving information, clarifying philosophical terms, repeatingcommon arguments), and a role as a moderator and a primus inter pares.

24 Critical thinking is discussed in e.g. Daniel & Auriac 2009, pp. 418-421. Like the authors, we think that there isno consensus definition of critical thinking. Nevertheless, critical thinking includes exploring and evolvingmethodological doubts. Furthermore, it aims at teaching how to think logically, stringently and coherently. For ashort summary of a critical model in the theory of education see Solarczyk-Szwec 2009, pp. 16 (“Table 2:Educational models vs. teaching styles and strategies and learning patterns”).




2.2 From cultural to intercultural didactics of Philosophy?

The next question seems likely: what does follow for an IDP? Can the three principles (see section 2.1)be applied to philosophical education in multicultural classes?

We cannot focus on the question of whether we need a new IDP (Münnix 2005) or not. Instead ofanalyzing new didactics we argue that the way from cultural to intercultural didactics does is not thatdangerous; however, we have to be aware of some obstacles. Tichy (2010, p. 49) suggests expandingdidactics of philosophy to how we understand it within a culture. To teach philosophy in interculturallearning groups needs extended teaching skills such as tactfulness, empathy, and an ability to judge25

(as a general capacity). From the teacher’s perspective we can assimilate two requirements of anintercultural pedagogy: tolerance and respect (see section 1 of this paper) in combination with carefulintercourse with pupils. Furthermore, Tichy argues, intercultural classes demand more effort to talkabout other human beings and life forms adequately.

So far, this does not imply that we need a new intercultural didactics. Are the above-explained principles(section 2.1) open to intercultural teaching and learning situations with respect to philosophy? We thinkthat the three principles in combination are consonant with the plurality and diversity of cultures (section1). Even more, the principles anticipate both indications: first, we live in more or less plural culturesand cultures are diverse. Second, this is relevant for a didactics of philosophy. It is relevant in at leastthree respects (Tichy 2010, p. 49): a) Plurality and diversity require talking about philosophical issuesfrom the perspective of another culture; b) We learn to distinguish two groups of “others”: the others ina given culture, usually labelled by “our culture” and the “others” of another, different culture.Especially the others of the second type impose other philosophical issues than e.g. the occidental-european tradition does; c) An intercultural dialogue, particularly a philosophical dialogue, needs moreeffort than an “innercultural” dialogue. Philosophical issues, e.g. ethical problems in multiculturalsocieties can be reflected with more differentiation within an intercultural perspective.

Do the principles sketched above give evidence for being suitable in an intercultural perspective? Wethink that they at least motivate one to think of plurality and diversity as inevitable conditions for doingphilosophy, i.e. for philosophizing. Trying to think like another person might think, trying to anticipatea different and an external, a “strange” point of view, is a good exercise for accepting plurality anddiversity. To think in accordance with yourself is a principle that can be applied universally. This doesnot imply more than that any other person who is involved in the process of philosophizing should alsothink in accordance with his own thoughts. This principle avoids inconsistencies and therefore arbitraryrelativism (ex contradictione quodlibet).

Postmodern philosophers might object that the whole argumentation is eurocentric26, logocentric orethnocentric (see Münnix 2005, p. 99; Tichy 2010, pp. 44f.). It is true that reflecting on interculturaldidactics of philosophy relies on weak universalization. And it is also sound to think that thinking ofuniversal principles cannot be totally separated from a specific culture. But though we have no propermethod to deduce intercultural valid principles from principles that are generated within a culture, wehave good reasons to argue in favour of a weak universability. The genesis of a principle e.g. in an Asianculture does not imply that this principle cannot be applied in the context of an African or American

25 This ability is a general ability, according of what Kant labelled as “Urteilskraft”.26 For a more detailed discussion of ethnocentricity see Tichy 2010, 52f., especially with respect to Derrida.




philosophy class. Justification can be separated from the historical setting of a genesis. To give anexample: the five-finger-method, invented by Ekkehard Martens, not only shows its potential forGerman school classes because it does not rest on a “German” or “European” method. It combinesPhenomenology, Hermeneutics, Analysis, Dialectics and Speculation for the purpose of formulating anddebating philosophical issues in the context of Philosophy for Children (Marsal 2009, p. 504). We thinkthat it is not eurocentric or ethnocentric to claim that philosophizing relies on argumentation and not onpersuasion. Argumentation and reflecting is not totally independent from cultural conditions, butnevertheless philosophy, understood as an enquiry of all cultures, depends on certain generalizations(see e.g. the three principles in 2.1).

Additionally, we argue that an IDP has to be aware of certain limitations of understanding. To accountfor argumentation radically sometimes leads to that what can be called morbus hermeneuticus, onephilosophical disease. The main symptom is that doing too much hermeneutics tends to result in moreor less fruitless debates about texts due to remaining in the horizon of a text. Another factor that restrictsthe potential of an IPD is the fact that different cultures share different and contradictive metaphysicalassumptions as culturally imbued contingent conditions for philosophizing. One common cross-culturalbasis for philosophizing could be philosophy as a worldwide wisdom-seeking enquiry.

3. PRESUPPOSITIONS OF INTERCULTURAL DIDACTICS OF PHILOSOPHY

In this section, we sketch the basic requisites of an IDP.27 Furthermore, we will list a few topics that areespecially relevant for teaching in the context of an intercultural didactics of philosophy.

It is obvious that the world is full of war, aggression and fanatics (Steenblock 1999, p. 178). We keepthis in mind and try not to overload the concept of interculturality in general and IDP in particular. Ona very theoretical level, we agree with Pannikar, who assumes that relativity of interculturality can leadto a culture-sensitive, nevertheless cross-cultural point of view: “The relativity inherent tointerculturality does not question the discoveries of a culture, but neither does it absolutize them. Itrelativizes them, i.e. it considers them valid and legitimate within a given culture and within theparameters admitted by the latter: in a word, within the encompassing myth of that culture.” (Pannikar2000, para. 82). It would lead us too far from the subject at this point to show how interculturality is notnecessarily bound to relativity. One more very important obstacle to interculturality has to beconsidered: “Our civilization accepts easily other cultures as long as the latter accept the rules of thegame that the former postulates. And it is obvious that because of its very power, our civilization canallow itself the luxury of being much more tolerant than weaker cultures.” (Pannikar 2000, para. 83).No “cognitive imperialism”, often regarded as hegemonic western thinking, can and should be the basisfor IDP. We list without further comment basic conditions that help to circumvent this difficulty:

· We do not claim or suggest that intercultural didactics are the better and exclusive didactics ofphilosophy. Well-established principles of intercultural pedagogy and an extension of a particularprevailing didactics are often helpful in the context of IDP.

· An undesirable effect of a misleading concept of IDP could be a semblance of fruitlessharmonization. IDP as we understand it means both, acceptance of disagreement, and acceptance of

27 We cannot focus on the contribution of philosophical education in international contexts, but wholeheartedlyagree with Heinemann & Todoric-Bebic 2000, who argue that one purpose of schooling worldwide is to improvesocial cohesion.




fundamental controversial subjects. It furthermore implies to abandon any purely culturalmotivation of a judgment “Culture A is superior to Culture B, therefore it is allowed to dominateCulture B. To dominate includes to provide a statement of philosophical requirements. ThereforeCulture A implicitly can tell Culture B how to philosophize.” Disagreement has to be reflected andshould give no reason to switch from arguments to complete abandonment of a discursiverelationship.

· Openness of thinking means that a philosophical issue can only be out of bounds if it is obviouslyonly provocative or has been put on the agenda to hurt someone’s feelings etc. There are almost notaboos for the thinking and philosophizing person.

· IPD makes allowance for sensitivity towards different cultures and culturally embeddedphilosophies. Again, that does not imply arbitrariness of thinking and its results (see Paul 1999).

· IDP puts forward basic topics of Philosophy and is open to new methods. It uses and improvesdialectical thinking, critical thinking, hermeneutics, phenomenology, analytical philosophy, neo-Socratic dialogue, free discussion, and alternative forms of philosophizing such as literaryphilosophy or the use of the drama for philosophical purposes.

· IDP does insist on the belief that few intercultural universals of argumentation (Paul 2009),problematization (Martian & Suciu 2009), logical thinking, arguing, sharing the methodologicalrules of community of inquiry are valid. If this seems to be too ambitious it is sufficient to think ofsuch rules as if they were valid. At least, from our point of view it is necessary to think of these rulesas tools that facilitate philosophizing from a perspective of IPD.

Finally, we have to touch on contents of philosophy that are especially relevant for inter- andmulticultural teaching of philosophy. We make no claim to be complete. The purpose of listing differenttopics is not to exclude other topics. One systematic aspect for the following topics and big issues istheir applicability and relevance in an intercultural perspective. One goal of philosophizing is that pupilsshould to be able to understand and to adopt perspectivism (Münnix 2005, p. 114f.) as the philosophicalattitude to identify the different, the strange, and to be able to change perspectives. We bear in mind thatappropriate philosophical issues imposes by different cultures include different questions from differentperspectives, and that engagement with these topics helps us to identify shortcomings, prejudices anddeficiencies in our own culture. Additionally, issues of practical philosophy (Ethics, Applied Ethics,Social Philosophy, Cultural Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Language and Aesthetics)point to conflicts in multicultural and intercultural societies.

Questions of cultural identity, the meaning of life, ethical relativism, justifying ethical norms, arguingin favour or against universal human rights, dealing with epistemological and other forms of skepticismare all relevant topics. Of course, some of these topics (Münnix 2005, p. 116f.) are rather more adequatefor higher classes than for pupils in primary schools. In the field of epistemology, the relation ofsensation, perception and reason is a challenging subject of debate. Do Indian people think differentlythan Europeans? Do they have a different logic? Which criteria for a theory of truth are appropriate?Are they universal? In the field of philosophical anthropology, philosophizing about the relation ofhuman beings as culturally and biologically determined creatures marks one important domain. Anotherbig question is whether and how the european tradition of subject-object-dichotomy led toindividualism. In the field of ethics, philosophizing in the context of IPD can lead to the question of howKant’s categorical imperative is a kind of supernorm for deontological ethics. A controversial issuediscussed in Aesthetics is how we describe and evaluate beauty and beautiful things or person. Is beauty




in the eye of the beholder? Metaphysics explore concepts of the transcendent sphere, like thesupernatural realms. Do we think that there are basic metaphysical assumptions like the existence of theworld as the real in all cultures? Are there “last things”, eternal things? Is the soul immortal and eternal?Political Philosophy asks for descriptive and normative concepts of justice, human rights, equality andfreedom, political participation, e.g. in a democracy etc. Finally, Cultural Philosophy is the domain thatreflects how “we” and “the others” build up cultures and how conflict and agreement can be understoodby philosophy.

REFERENCESDaniel, M-F & Auriac, E 2011, ‘Philosophy, Critical Thinking and Philosophy for Children’,Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 43, no. 5, pp. 425-435.

Duobliene, L 2005, ‘Philosophy in Lithuanian education: Past and Present’, in J Baranova (ed.),Contemporary Philosophical Discourse in Lithuania (Lithuanian Philosophical Studies IV), TheCouncil for Research in Values and Philosophy, Washington, pp. 375-397.

Heinemann, SP & Todoric-Bebic, S 2000, ‘A renewed sense for the purposes of schooling: Thechallenges of education and social cohesion in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and Central Asia’,Prospects, vol. 30, Issue 2, pp. 145-166.

Kolb, JA, Lin H & Frisque, DA 2005, Teaching ethics in a multicultural classroom, pp. 13-30, viewedon 4 April 2013, <http://www.uvu.edu/ethics/seac/Teaching%20Ethics%20in%20a%20Multicultura-l%20Classroom.pdf>.

Kroksmark, T 2005, T̔eaching and teachers' “Didaktik”’, Studies in Philosophy and Education, Vol.14, pp. 365-382.

Lipman, M 1986 (engl. 1974), Pixie. Philosophieren mit Kindern. Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky, Wien.

MacMillan, CJB 1995, ‘How not to Learn: Reflections on Wittgenstein and Learning, Studies inPhilosophy and Education’, Vol. 14, pp. 161-169.

Mall, RA 1998, ‘Philosophy and Philosophies – Cross-Culturally Considered’, Topoi, Vol. 17, pp. 15-27.

Mall, RA 2000, Intercultural Philosophy, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham.

Marsal, E 2009, ‘A German Framework for Philosophizing with Children: The Five-Finger Model ofEkkehard Martens’, in Marsal, E, Dobashi, T & Weber, B (eds.), Children Philosophize Worldwide;Theoretical and Practical Concepts, Peter Lang GmbH, Frankfurt am Main, pp. 503-512.

Martian, N & Suciu, L 2009, ‘Philosophical and Didactic Perspectives on problematization’, TheJournal of Didactics, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 1-13.

Matthews, GB 1980, Philosophy and the Young Child. Harvard University Press, Cambridge,Massachusetts; London, UK.

Münnix, B 2005, P̒hilosophie, Didaktik und Interkulturalität ̕ , in Martens, E, Gefert, C & Steenblock,V (eds.), Philosophie und Bildung: Beiträge zur Philosophiedidaktik, LIT Verlag, Münster, pp. 99-124.

Murris, K 2000, ̒Can Children do Philosophy?’ Journal of Philosophy of Education, vol. 34, no. 2, pp.261-279.




Panikkar, R 2000, ̒Religion, Philosophy and Culture’, polylog: Forum for Intercultural Philosophy,no. 1. Online: <http://them.polylog.org/1/fpr-en.htm>

Paul, G 2001, ‘Philosophie der Menschenrechte. Ergebnisse eines Projekts’, polylog. Forum fürinterkulturelle Philosophie, vol. 3. Online: <http://agd.polylog.org/3/ppg-de.htm>

Pfister, J 2010, Fachdidaktik Philosophie, Haupt, Bern; Stuttgart; Wien.

Solarczyk-Szwec, H 2009, ‘Significance of Critical Model of Educational Work with Adults inBuilding Intercultural Competence’, in E Czerka & M Mechlińska-Pauli (eds.), Teaching and learningin different cultures. An adult education perspective, Gdańsk Higher School of Humanities Press,Gdansk, pp. 13-24.

Steenblock, V 1999, Theorie der kulturellen Bildung : zur Philosophie und Didaktik derGeisteswissenschaften, Fink, München.

Tichy, M 2010, ‘Fremd im Philosophieunterricht. Oder: Brauchen wir eine interkulturellePhilosophiedidaktik? ’, Zeitschrift für Didaktik der Philosophie der Ethik, Vol. 32, pp. 43-53.

Tozzi, M 2010, ‘Helping Children To Philosophizing: State of the Art, Live Issues, Outcomes andProposals’, Diogenes, vol. 56, no. 4, pp. 49-60.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Social and Human Sciences Sector(ed.) 2007, ‘Philosophy: a School of Freedom. Teaching philosophy and learning to philosophize:Status and prospects’, UNESCO: Paris, viewed on 3 April 2013,<http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001541/154173e.pdf>.

Vansieleghem, N & Masschelein, J 2010, ‘Creativity or passion? What is at stake in philosophy withchildren’, Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca Teor. Educ., Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 131-149.

Warburton, N 2004, Philosophy : the essential study guide, Routledge, London & New York.

Wittgenstein, L 1958, Philosophical Investigations (translated by GEM Anscombe), Basil Blackell,Oxford.




COMPUTER GAMES FOR BEGINNER READERS, DEVELOPING

ABILITIES TO RECOGNIZE WORDSAnna K. Trosheva1, Valentina T. Terzieva2, Aneta P. Atanasova3,

Petia I. Kademova-Katzarova2 and Rumen D. Andreev2

1 Dep. of Special Education, Faculty of Primary & Preschool Education, University of Sofia,

69-A, Shipchensky prohod Str, Sofia 1574, Bulgaria2 Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Acad. G. Bonchev Str., Bl. 2, Sofia 1113, Bulgaria3 Dep. of General, Experimental and Genetic Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sofia,

15 Boul. Tzar Osvoboditel, Sofia 1504, Bulgaria

Abstract

Reading is basic academic ability, regardless of the change in our modern information environmentfrom “book” to “multimedia”. The children nowadays prefer electronic stimuli and require them ineducation too. Reading activity integrates variety of processes that should find reflection in learningand training. This paper presents the opportunities of computer games to combine word recognitionexercises with the training of language skills, eye movements in reading, development of memory andattention, and improvement and maintenance of motivation. Besides achieving the multifacetedobjectives the games provide the opportunity to facilitate the implementation of an individual approachfor each child. Computer games allow “tuning”, in accordance with the sensory preferences, pace ofwork and the specific difficulties of each learner. From this perspective, the proposed approaches areeffective for preventing reading difficulties in children with dyslexia, autism, etc.

Key words: learning difficulties, reading disorders, dyslexia, educational games, computer-basedteaching

1. INTRODUCTION

It is undeniable fact, that reading is a complex process. Beginner reader and well trained reader showdifferent characteristics of reading process. Reading education aims to rapidly visual identification ofwords through developing different reading strategies. Word identification requires phonological skills,grammar, semantics, memory, motivation. Reader’s experience also plays an important role.

2. CHARACTERISTICS OF READING

The most widespread reading models in specialized literature are “bottom up” and “top down” models(Gillon 2004, Matanova 2001, Tsenova 2009, Ignatova 2009, Stereva 2013.)

“Bottom up” model (which is called also indirect model) is based on word identification as a sequenceof visual images of letters which reflect auditory model of phonemes and have specific sense. Key




aspects of “bottom up” reading are: visual identification of letters; auditory identification of letters; thesequence of letters in written words. Successful reading requires performance of several sequence(hierarchical) steps: decoding graphic symbols; “translating” graphic symbols in auditory form;understanding the sense of the word (Stereva 2012). In previous publication (Atanasova, Terzieva,Trosheva, Katzarova, Andreev, 2012) we have suggested attractive multisensory games for developingvisual identification of letters (decoding).

“Top down” model (which is called also direct model) is based on context for correct wordidentification. Top down reading strategy requires wider visual field for simultaneously perception ofthe whole word and word context; and generating hypothesis of word meaning on the base of previousreader’s experience whit the word and the sense of the text. This reading strategy does not employsegmental word perception, but whole word perception. The key components of up down reading are:high cognitive processes including syntactic and semantic skills (Stereva 2012).

Beginner readers use dominantly bottom up reading strategy. Because of difficulties in correct wordidentification letter by letter they often do not understand the sense of the text. The stages of teachingreading, described by (Zdravkova 1991) are as following: analytical stage, stage of developing wholereading strategies and synthesized stage, composed by different reading strategies. That means thateducational aims, after the analytical stage should be developing strategies for global perception of thetext and focus on its content.

The experienced reader uses both models in compensatory way: when the reader has some difficultieswith the top down model he relies on the bottom up model and vise verse. Rumelhart describes aninteractive reading model (Stereva 2012), which considers reading as a process of integration ofstrategies that are characteristic of both approaches (“bottom up” and “top down”). Dyslexic childrenhave difficulties in implementing some of the strategies or both of these models. (Yakimova 2010)highlights the following important points in the treatment of reading difficulties:

· In both models there is a risk of visual distortion in word identification. In direct model visualdistortions affect the word as a whole, while in indirect model these distortions affect thediscrete graphemes. Therefore must be trained visual modality.

· Visual vocabulary is built through good visual memory and knowledge of the sequence ofgraphemes in the word. Visual representations are refined through the indirect reading strategy.

· Semantics is the common between the types of reading. Although the mechanisms of access tothe lexical code are different, it would be useful to activate lexical-semantic field. Goodman(cited in Stereva 2012) suggests that the expansion of semantic knowledge and understandingof syntactic structures improves reading due to the limitation of possible meaningful options ofreading. Sagel et al. (2005) examine the intervention approaches aimed to whole wordrecognition, which is improved by concentrating on semantics.

3. DISORDERS OF READING PROCESSES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ITS CORRECTION

3.1. Eye movements during reading

Eye fixations and saccadic eye movements alternate while reading. Actual recognition of the word ispossible during moments of eye fixations. Left to right saccadic eye movements without “returning”from right to left or skipping rows are necessary for successful reading. But many dyslexic children haveineffective saccadic eye movements. Fisher et al. (2008) conducted a study with 182 dyslexics and a




control group with 114 participants. Findings suggest that mastery of eye movements develops with ageand development of this skill continues into adulthood. Dyslexics and controls demonstrate significantdifference in antisaccade performance. The daily training of eye movement skill leads to improvementin 80% of the cases. Improved eye movements transferred on reading – error rate decreases. Training ofeye movements should be directed to:

· Overcoming the “return” of the eye movements.

· Training eye movements from left to right and top to bottom.

· Extension of the visual field.

3.2. Relation between written image of the word and its meaning. This connection may be unstable, bothin direct and in an indirect way of reading. Its reinforcement can be stimulated by:

· Increasing the speed of response when processing visual incentives;

· Forming and expanding the volume of an accurate visual vocabulary;

· Skills for sound analysis and synthesis.

3.3. Phonological skills. The hypothesis of phonological deficit underlying reading disabilities isrepeatedly demonstrated in numerous studies. A brief overview of research in this direction can be seenin (Stereva 2012) and (Atanasova et al. 2012). Children with phonological deficits have difficulty tounderstand the sound structure of spoken language and the storage of phonological information inworking memory (Stereva 2012).

Tasks for the development of phonological skills:

· Counting phonemes in words and nonwords;

· Counting syllables in words and nonwords;

· Identification of certain phonemes in words and nonwords;

· Rhyme;

· Replacement of phonemes into words.

3.4. Attention and memory. These mental processes are often unstable for children with learningdisabilities and children with dyslexia. Reading suffers when it relies mainly on visual referencing,attention and memory. It is recommended to stimulate the development of these processes, bydeveloping games and exercises with non-linguistic and linguistic material.

3.5. Motivation. Any feeling of failure reduces the desire to read. It is advisable special games andexercises to be proposed that will distract the child from the stress of "reading" and will strengthen itsskills through support for coping.

· The Intrinsic (internal) motivation can be enhanced by:

§ Creating conditions in which success is experienced: the hierarchy of difficulty of the tasks;grading the degree of difficulty of the task by providing assistance through visualization,reducing the unknown elements, simplifying the incentives and others can give rise to a senseof success in each child.




§ Maintenance of interest: the ability to select certain tasks and incentives related to thepersonal interest of the children, maintain the interest. The computer version of the gameallows the same task to be presented with different stimulus (for example: cars for boys, dollsfor girls etc., related to individual interests).

· The Extrinsic motivation can be ensured by providing an award (again a different reward can beprovided, depending on personal preferences and interests), after covering a certain criteria(example: after each solved problem, after solving five tasks, after completing a task in specifictime, etc.). The criteria can also be chosen according to individual performance level and thechild's need for positive feedback and support.

4. IDEAS FOR GAMES DEVELOPING READING PROCESSES

We will not discuss in detail here games with non-linguistic material such as lotto, memory, puzzles,mazes, finding differences between two pictures, finding an element on a complex picture and others,which improve complex memory, attention, visual perception. They can also consist of linguisticmaterial of letters, syllables, and words.

The ideas for games, presented by us, are aimed at word recognition in two possible models, whilecombining elements that train various mental processes, necessary for reading and languagedevelopment (Nominative function, naming). Such games are listed below:

1. Correlation between written word and corresponding image. This type of game serves forimprovement of reading abilities, semantics development and for creating a visual vocabulary.

2. Mastering short-term memory – development of the visual attention, short-term visual memory,word identification, visual discrimination, and semantics.

3. Completing words – development of thinking and concepts, semantic conjecture, activation ofthe visual vocabulary and phonemes synthesis.

4. Determine if the words are identical – development of visual attention and discrimination ofmovements of eyes, phonology.

5. Connecting words with similar meaning among the group of words that includes also wordswith similar pronunciation (not exact homophones). Examples in Bulgarian are “блуза –фланелка – буза – супа – бульон – трион”. The translation in English is “blouse – T-shirt –cheek – soup – bouillon – saw”. The right answer is to connect “блуза – фланелка” (blouse –T-shirt) and “супа – бульон” (soup – bouillon) – similar meaning, not “блуза– буза” and“бульон – трион” (similar pronunciation). The goal is development of visual attention,concentration, thinking and concept.

6. Transforming a word into a new one – this game contribute to refinement of the visualvocabulary, development of phonology, analytical skills, exchange letters, improvement insemantic, thinking and concepts.

7. Recognition of the word by its structure (e.g. number of strokes for each letter of the word or astructure from blue squares for consonants and red for vowels). A easier version of the game isthe completing of missing letters in a word – the game named “hangman” – trains syllabicanalysis, analysis and synthesis of words, identifying word, semantic thinking, and visualvocabulary.




8. Semicircle reading – training of the eye movements, identification and synthesis of words,semantics, thinking.

9. Reading following the directions – training of eye movements, identifying word, synthesis ofwords, thinking.

10. Reading words written in different directions – training of eye movements, thinking, improveidentifying words.

5. Educational games for reading

The idea of learning by computer games is not new. Prensky (2001) appreciate the engaging andmotivating effect of video games and he asserts that this effect should be exploited in education in orderto improve the teaching and learning. This idea has been expanded and now the education takesadvantage of the power of games. Furthermore, Prensky (2008) states that the role of technology inclassrooms is to support the new teaching paradigm – to support students teaching themselves with theirteachers’ guidance. Computer technology nowadays offers learners new, highly effective tools they canuse to learn on their own. Usually computer games are very popular with pupils, so they can motivateyoung students to win and challenge them to move ahead to the next level. Educational games in contrastto traditional classroom practice provide students with almost immediate feedback on their decisionsand actions. Thus they can benefit and proceed to the next level when they are ready, even withoutteacher’s actions. In addition, there are many different ways that teachers can use games within theclassroom and/or for homework.

Many games are really useful for developing the skills that children need as beginner readers. By playingsuch games and mastering early reading skills the child will develop confidence and read more broadlyand fluently. The computer games help to keep a good balance between enjoyment and gaining literacycompetence by increasing reading efficiency and understanding. In addition the games offer severaldifficulty levels, so the appropriate one can be chosen. The set of words that are used in the game canbe selected from a range of word sets in the rich word pool also. This can be supported by computertechnologies. In the beginning of all mentioned computer games audio instructions are provided.

The proposed educational computer games are appropriate for multisensory teaching approaches thatare very effective in facilitating the acquisition of basic skills (Terzieva et al 2012). Additionally, thepresented games provide opportunities for setting important features in accordance with thecharacteristics of the child. These include:

· support of different difficulty levels, so based on the ability of the pupil the appropriated onecan be selected;

· variety of word combinations provided by a vast word pool;

· support for different tasks’ speeds;

· choice of size, font and colour of text / letters;

· choice of the background colours;

· usage of different sounds (music, songs, exclamations, clapping, ringing, etc.; typical soundsfor an image; words / phrases read aloud, etc.);

· encourage learner by rewarding each advance (gain points, badges, prizes);




· multiple usage of a game for training of different cognitive abilities.

Below are described computer games for mastering reading, especially developed according toBulgarian phonology but some of them are universal, so they can be suitable for another language (ofcourse, with changing the word pool).

5.1. Sliding from left to right. These exercises are suitable for training the eye movements from left toright and top to bottom and in this way overcoming the “return” of the eye movements. We present heretwo examples of exercises:

Ø “Bicyclist” – a funny bicyclist drives along and palm trees grow at once. The movementcorresponds with the eye movement when reading. Both types of movement are trained (Fig. 1):

· along the row (left to right)

· pass to the next row (right border to left border of the page)

Fig. 1 “Bicyclist”

Ø “Flowerbed” – flowers appear in rows. The sequence corresponds with the eye movement whenreading. Afterwards a light spot tours the flowers in the same order and “repeats” the movement.In this way the second stimulus increases the learner’s attention in the reading process. Actuallythis is the same training as the above mentioned with another scenario (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2 “Flowerbed”




5.2. Matching a word with a picture. The word can indicate a noun or an action (part of a sentence). Itis good idea to check if the child is grasping the deeper levels of meaning when reading. In these gamesa word that matches a given meaning is searched for.

“Flow in” is a simple game that trains reading comprehension. It increases the speed of response whenprocessing visual incentives. A word appears and the proper picture from a set has to be chosen, whichmeets the written word. It is possible that several pictures are appropriate for a word (e. g. pictures of aboy and of a girl are both true for the word “child”) or one picture is true for several words (e. g. thesame picture is appropriate for both “bird” and “dove”).

Fig. 3 “Flow in”

Fig. 4 “Spot it!” a) Spot the picture! b) Spot the same word!

5.3. Finding the same word. In the game “Spot it!” the short-term memory is trained. A word is exposedwithin 3-5 seconds, and then it has to be found among several structurally related words or pictures,where only one meets the read word. We present here two games for this purpose.




a) Read and match with the proper picture – in this exercise a word appears for several seconds.The task is to read the word, to memorise and comprehend it and find the corresponding pictureamount a group of images. As an affirmation the picture grows.

b) Read and find the same word – the exposed word has to be read and remembered then it has tobe identified within a group of words. The located word grows as an affirmation (Fig. 5 b).

5.4. Completing words by putting in the missing letter or syllable. In the game “Missing!” the learnerhas to guess all the words by filling in the missing letters. According to the pupil’s skills a set of wordsand level of difficulty can be chosen at the beginning of each round.

a) Put in the missing letter – in a thematic word list (in our example “Fruits”) the first one or twoletters of the words are missing and the child has to put them in

b) Put in the missing syllable – a picture is suggesting the meaning of the word.

Sometimes it is easier for a child to work out an unfamiliar word sound by sound or to look at the chunksor syllables in a word, for example camp-ing or butt-er-fly.

Fig. 5 “Missing!” a) missing letter b) missing syllable

5.5. Same or different word? The exercise “Match?” aims to quickly determinate whether pair ofwords – anagrams are identical or not (e.g. bat – tab, pat – tab, pool – loop; in Bulgarian: път – тъп, кос– нос; translation: road – dull, blackbird – nose). The game trains the reading and understanding

Fig. 6 “Match?” a) two words to be compared b) Answer correct!




abilities. The two words to be compared appear for 2-3 seconds and then disappear. The task is to readproperly the words and decide if they are identical or not. When the answer is correct a sun shines, whenincorrect a cloud with rain pops up. Then pictures illustrate both words. More advanced level is whenthe words are longer and/or letters are rearranged (e.g. lemon – melon, late – tale; in Bulgarian: лебед– дебел, камък – малък, translation: swan – thick, stone – small).

5.6. Building a new word by substituting first letter. The idea is to spot letter patterns in words.Replacing the first letter in a word to get another word (e.g. hose – rose, donkey – monkey, in Bulgarianроза – лоза – коза, translation: rose – vine – goat). Hints for the new words may be suggested by picturesor audio instruction (description).

Fig. 7 “Substitution”

Fig. 8 “Maze”

In the game “Substitution” a word illustrated with picture is shown and the letter to be substitutedblinks several times. Then the letter disappears. The task is to choose another letter from a list in orderto build a new word. A cluster of pictures suggest a possible solution. If the chosen letter is correct, thepicture illustrating the new word joins it (Fig. 7). As an option the word can be heard too. Another




version of the task is to give audio instructions for converting the word into another one. More elaboratedtask is to rearrange the letters to form a valid word. A hint button can get a clue orally or visually aboutthe meaning of word.

5.7. Reading words letter by letter – “Maze”. Reading letters or syllables following arrows in the fourorthogonal directions – left, right, up and down. This game trains the ability to follow a predetermineddirection and mastering it in order to read the interlaced words. The direction is specified for everyposition with arrows. The last character/syllable of a word is the first for the next one. It changes itscolour to mark the boundary (Fig. 8). Simultaneously the word sounds as an affirmation.

The task can be made more complicated by using “transient” arrows – they are not predetermined andappear after clicking the right letter to give the direction for finding the next one. In that way the letterscan be used for building many different words and the game becomes a genuine maze. After completinga word, the arrows that construct it disappear.

5.8. Reading in semicircle – This game refers to the pictures or reading of words, which are arrangedin a semicircle from the left to the right. The game “Snake” (Fig. 9) trains the ability to follow lettersin the required sequence but in nonlinear direction in order to find and read the real words. Some letterscan be repeated so that to form as much as possible words. Usually the last characters of a word are thebeginning of the next one. There is a hint about the number of all words.

Fig. 9 “Snake” a) English language variant a) Bulgarian language variant

(Translation of words: banana, nose, rhinoceros, horn)

The game starts with double click on the first letter of word, requires click on each following letters tothe last one when double click again indicate reading of the word. If it is a valid word – it appears in thelist on the screen and is pronounced by the computer. Otherwise an error sound is heard. In the exampleshown in Bulgarian language variant all possible meaningful words are found, while in English versiononly three of five are found (missing cocktail and tail). This game masters reading of the interlacedwords.

5.9. Finding the words in the “Word pad”. In this game the goal is to find as much as possible validwords in the pad that can appear in different shapes (square, triangle, octagon, outline of an object, e. g.car, airplane, helmet, mountain). The words have to be sought in every direction: horizontally, vertically,diagonally, forwards, and backwards. The word can be selected by clicking on the first letter anddrawing a line to the last one (Fig. 10). When completing a word, it sounds as an affirmation and a

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counter gives the number of words found. Additionally, as an option a list of all words can appear wherethe found words are coloured. This game can have a competition mode, when the performance time istaken into account too. The score of each gamer is stored for success monitoring.

Fig. 10 “Word pad”

5.10. Reading words letter by letter: In this game (“Bee”) the flowers appear as in the exercise 5.1.“Flowerbed”. Afterwards a bee flies from flower to flower in the same order and “puts” a character inevery one (at this moment the letter “S” on the third row). The characters build a sentence. In thisexercise are trained the proper eye movement and the reading abilities (Fig. 11). As an option the wordsand the whole sentence can be read by the computer before or/ and after the exercise.

Fig. 11 “Bee”

6. CONCLUSION

The proposed game-based approach is useful for beginner readers to develop basic literacy and masterreading. Often the same game can be used when reading process disorders exist, because the gameusually trains a combination of several skills, so all of them are improved. The earlier pupils receivenecessary help, the more likely they will become good readers. Computer games are excellent choices




because they let children have fun as they develop their skills and can encourage a wide variety ofreading activities.

The potential benefits of game-based teaching approach are a lot. The general outcome is increasingefficiency in education. Teaching by educational games can meet learners’ needs and preferences byproviding multisensory, motivational, and stress free training tasks in an amusing manner. Games alsomeet the criteria for quality teaching by supporting structured, sequential, based on previous learning,which develops the intellect by intersensory associations. Thus the children can cope with over-learningwithout frustration and fatigue. Most psychologists and teachers consider educational computer gamesstimulating and good for self confidence. Competition options of the games contribute to the learners’motivation and make them success-oriented too. In addition, computer technology provides tools forkeeping track of students’ progress in acquiring basic reading skills.

REFERENCES

Atanasova A, Terzieva V, Trosheva A, Kademova-Katzarova P, Andreev R 2012, ‘Computer-basedsupport for basic education in reading’, Journal of International Scientific Publications: EducationalAlternatives, Vol. 10, part 1, pp. 133- 143.

Fisher B, Phys D; Hartnegg K., Phys, D 2008, ‘Saccade Control in Dyslexia: Development, Deficits,Training and Transfer to Reading, Optometric Visual Development, 39 (4), pp. 181-190.

Gillon, G. T. 2004, Phonological Awareness, NY, L.

Ignatova D 2009, Reading and its specific violations, Sofia. (Bulgarian)

Matanova, V 2001, Dyslexia, Sofia. (Bulgarian)

Prensky, M 2001, Digital game-based learning, McGraw-Hill.

Prensky, M 2008, ‘The role of technology in teaching and the classroom’, Educational Technology Nov-Dec, viewed 15 June 2013 <http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/>

Sage K, Hesketh A, Ralph M 2005, ‘Using errorless learning to treat letter-by-letter reading. Contrastingword versus letter-based therapy’, Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 15 (5), 619-642.

Stereva K 2012, Phonological awareness in children, Glossa therapy, Sofia. (Bulgarian)

Stereva, K. 2013, ‘Phonological awareness in contemporary theories of reading’, Journal of SpecialEducation. (Bulgarian)

Terzieva V, Kademova-Katzarova P 2012, ‘Multisensory education with computer games’ Proceedingsof the International Conference Automatics & Informatics, pp. 365 – 368, Sofia, Bulgaria

Tsenova Ts 2009, Speech therapy. Description, diagnosis and treatment of communication disorders,Sofia. (Bulgarian)

Yakimova, R 2010, Disorders of reading, Rommel, Sofia. (Bulgarian)

Zdravkova St 1991, Education of children in the first grade, Sofia. (Bulgarian)




FACEBOOK IN A TEACHING PROCESS AT ICT COLLEGE BELGRADE

Vitomir Radosavljević and Ana Savić

ICT College Belgrade, Zdravka Čelara 16, Belgrade, Serbia

Abstract

In this Paper the idea of using social networks in a teaching process has been presented. Since theFacebook is the most popular social network in Serbia there have been described aspects and results ofusing the social network Facebook in a teaching process. This work consists of two parts. In the firstpart were given certain premises concerning possible positive and negative aspects of using socialnetworks in a teaching process. This social network is used in teaching the subject Digitaltelecommunications at ICT College in Belgrade during the first three months of the school year2012/2013. Two different ways of using Facebook have been presented in a teaching process, as wellas some problems which occurred during its implementation. At the end were shown results andconclusions collected by the students questionnaire about the usage of the social network Facebook ina teaching process.

Key words: Social networks, Facebook, e-learning

1. INTRODUCTIONThe development of Internet in the last 20 years has influenced almost every aspect of human society.Exchange of data and information, together with the technological advancement, has gradually broughtup to some new forms of communication. The terms such as blog, tweet, post, poke, sms, mms andothers are a common part of our daily communication. Some other forms of communication have gottheir electronic equivalents. So nowadays, instead of writing letters prevails the communication by e-mails, and a standard phone service has got its equivalent on the Internet due to VoIP protocol andservices such as Skype and Viber.

In the light of the described technological advancement educational and learning processes haveundergone some changes. Since the learning process presents relatively permanent change on thebehavior or on some its aspects, which is the result of the previous experience, the possible ways ofenabling us to achieve the previous experience, have obtained in a time frame some new forms. Nomatter whether it is a distance learning, the use of multimedia and interactive contents, video clips,animations or mobile applications, they all base their work on the development of Internet and webapplications. The development of Internet which is marked as web 2.0 era of the Internet brings us blogs,micro blogs, social networks, media sharing sites, social bookmarking, Wiki, virtual surroundings. Weget some new ideas of how to use the above mentioned tools in a teaching process. We are investigatinghow to improve the learning process with the above mentioned tools, how to influence the students`motivation and how to enhance the quality of acquired curriculum. The social networks are due to theirpopularity and broad usage one of web tools 2.0 to which the biggest attention is paid and from whoseusage in the curriculum we have the greatest expectations. Since the social networks are relatively newphenomena all experiences about the usage of social networks in our curriculum are very important inorder to obtain a better insight of all aspects of their usage in the school curriculum.




Those mentioned standpoints were used as a base for improving the teaching process at ICT CollegeBelgrade. Students of the second year from the Telecommunication department have attended duringthe first trimester of this school year 2012/13 the course “Digital telecommunications” where theteaching process has been enhanced with the usage of the Facebook social network.

In this paper are published the first results of the usage of social networks in the curriculum. The firstpart of the paper describes the starting assumptions about the usage of social networks in a teachingprocess, whereas some real experiences and conclusions are shown in the second part.

2. SOCIAL NETWORKS IN THE TEACHING PROCESS

One of the definitions of social networks is that they are web based systems which enable an individualto build up public or half public profiles within the mentioned system, to build up a list of connectionswith other users with whom they can exchange the contents and which can be used to broaden theirconnections with other users within the system. About the popularity of social networks speaks the factthat the most popular social network is Facebook, which had 1.2 billion users at the end of 2012 andthat 98% of young people between 18 and 24 years of age are members of some social group. BesidesFacebook some other social networks are popular as well, such as MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Hi5,Badoo, SkyRock, Tuenti, StudVZ, Bebo. Some of the mentioned social networks are popular in thewhole world (Facebook and Twitter), while the others are popular only locally (Tuenti in Spain, StudVZin Germany, Bebo in England). Talking about Serbia the number of users follows the world`s trend andthere was a slight increase during 2012. There are about 3,500 000 users of Facebook and YouTubewhich are the most popular forms of social networks in Serbia.

Presented facts were the reason to think about a possible way in which social networks could be used ina teaching process. Some additional facts have spoken in favor of implementing social networks inteaching process:

· Simplicity and availability of using social networks. In order to become a user of a socialnetwork you only have to possess an e-mail address and to fill in the entrance form on theappropriate Internet web page.

· It is free of charge and so are the most services and applications that are offered by socialnetworks.

· It is possible to change and personalize the applications that are used in social networks.

· Distribution of multimedia contents (pictures, video clips, animations, graphs, texts) is verysimple to most users. By using the appropriate applications it is possible to put different contentson the social network. Training process for using the application is set to the minimum.

· Getting a direct feedback about the contents which are put on social networks is possible bycomments and posts.

· Easier and faster communication among users of social networks.




We have also taken into account certain aspects which are considered to be some possible drawbackswhile using social networks in a teaching process.

· Since there is no validation of data which are to be found on social networks there is also apossibility to come across some contents and information whose accuracy is questionable.

· Users on social network may have different norms of behavior which can influence not only theindividual but also the whole group on social network. Nonprofessional and incorrect behaviorof participants on social networks, posting or uploading some contents and comments whichcan be found offensive by others, putting on some contents which are not connected with a topicor teaching domain, which is to be studied, or a deliberate exhibiting some false data are justsome of potential forms of behavior, which should be prevented or at least reduced to aminimum.

· Since students consider Facebook as an informal way of communication, it should be put intoaccordance with the professors` communication with the students attending the course, and itshould also fit into the social network.

Besides above mentioned some other questions occurred: Are the students going to accept Facebookas an integral part of a teaching process and is the use of Facefook going to motivate students moreduring their learning process?

3. IMPLEMENTATION

During the first trimester of the school year 2012/13 students at the ICT College Belgrade, who wereattending lectures for the subject Digital telecommunications, were given the opportunity to useFacebook during the course. There were 69 students of the second year from the departmentTelecommunications. Most students were aged 20-25 (81%). All students have judged their computerskills as “appropriate” or “advanced”. On a daily base each student spent between 2 or 4 hours workingon a computer (54%) and mostly in the evening after 8pm (53%). Most students used Internet as a meansof communication (69%), for getting information (58%) and for entertainment and fun (53%). Regardingsocial networks 83% of them have had an access to Facebook, and 17% on Twitter. All other socialnetworks were represented insignificantly.

Students who were following the course were obliged to follow the course in the electronic form besideslectures and lab classes. On the educational portal www.e-studije.com was given the platform for adistance learning as well as an appropriate course “Digital telecommunications”. Within the portalstudents would read versions of e-lessons and after that they would fill in the reports and solve the testsat the end of each unit. Besides that, students sent a friend request on the Facebook to a “friend” accountcalled “Digitalne TK ICT škola”. The given account was made by the appointed professor. To ensurethat activities on this Facebook account will be followed only by students attending the course theFacebook account was made as a personal account, and not as a fan page. Students have been involvedin Facebook in two different ways:

1. They were offered to get additional points on their pre-exam obligations through the activity onFacebook. The professor would give them each week two assignments/problems based on thee-lesson presented on the educational portal. Those students who gave answers in a time framegot points for correct answers. Such Facebook activity was not obligatory for the students,




nevertheless it was expected to be popular, due to possibility to get some extra points as pre-exam obligations.

2. he other activity on Facebook was based on following the photo album which containedphotographs of blackboards with lecture notices. During the lecture the professor would makephotographs of all written blackboards with his camera. Then the whole lecture in the form ofwritten blackboards was put into the photo album on Facebook. Students were asked to give a“like” sign for photos containing extremely important facts from the lecture helping them tounderstand the teaching material. Students could also ask some questions using appropriateblackboard photos concerning the content on the photo.

During the process itself we came to the following conclusions:

1. Since the questionnaire has shown that most students sit at their computers after 8 o`clock in theevening we have come to an agreement that students should regularly check the course Facebookaccount between 8 and 9 o`clock in the evening on workdays. During the week, on two evenings,the professor would post assignments in the appointed time frame. Students who had chosen thecourse account settings to be Close Friend with their own account got notifications about allhappenings and posts on the course account automatically. Assignments were put together withan appropriate photograph on the course account wall, and students gave their answers bywriting posts. It was previously planned that only 15 quickest students with correct answersshould get points. The idea was to develop competitive spirit among participating students.When the professor was checking posts/answers latter on, first fifteen students` posts with thecorrect answer were given a “like”. That way students got informed that they had givenright answers and got points. If students were giving more answers, only the last writtenwas taken into account for grading.Performing those activities two problems occurred. First problem was the time for settingassignments because it did not suit students, so the time for setting assignments was moved to9:30 till 11:30 in the evenings on workdays. Second more serious problem occurred when someparticipants started to copy posts of those students who had first given their answers. It wasproved that more hardworking, diligent and more ambitious students (professors used to callthem “better students”) accepted this kind of knowledge checking via Facebook gladly. Suchstudents used to give answers first, and after that a great number of other students would justcopy their answers. Certain number of those who had copied the answer managed to enter amongthe first 15 students with a correct answer and got points for that. On the other hand, there weresome students who were not copying the answers and they were in a worse position becausethey did not manage to enter in the list of first 15 correct answers and they did not get any pointsfor their activity. After the second week when this problem became obvious, professors tried toprevent that bad praxis, giving each student differently formulated assignment which wasunique. That was achieved by personalizing assignments` parameters, because the assignments`parameters were connected with the student`s unique index number. This approach partly solvedthe problem of copying the answers but it also influenced the number of participants in thisactivity. In the first week 76% of course participants were taking part in answering theassignments, in the second week 63%. After the changes were introduced by definingassignments in a different way for each student, the number fell to 35% and that percentagestayed unchanged till the end of the course.




2. The second activity on Facebook was to follow the photo album which contained photographsof blackboards written during the lectures. The professor made a photograph of the blackboardtogether with the written content. After erasing the board, he would wrote on it further on andthen made another photograph. Those photographs were then put on the Facebook courseaccount and were used as some sort of a reminder for students what was done during the class.Students could write posts to a certain photograph, ask questions considering the content writtenon the blackboard, and those photographs which were considered to be essential forunderstanding the curriculum should have been given a “like”. This way the professor gotfeedback information where he should have paid more attention during his lectures and whichsegments should have been potentially extra explained during the classes.

The idea of making photographs of some parts of lectures originally came from a projectSensCam which was performed by Microsoft. The project included keeping a photo diary sothat a camera that was around a neck of a questioned person periodically notified happeningsduring the day of one individual. On the base of collected data it was concluded that certainphotographs, which were at the end of the day analysed, caused certain emotional response andwere responsible for creating a better memory impression of certain events. It was expected thatthe photographs of the lecture boards should similarly bring the curriculum closer to studentsand remind them to the lecture itself. Additionally the working atmosphere during the class wasphotographed, too, which should amplify the emotional response of students and give themsatisfaction by using Facebook for their personal presentation. Research done by Special & Li-Barber (2012) has stressed out the need for personal presentation as one of the main motivatingfactors for using Facebook.

At the end of the term the questionnaire was given in which students were asked to express their attitudeabout the use of the social network Facebook in a teaching activity. The questionnaire was performedby the use of a Facebook application for conducting such questionnaires.

There were four questions in the questionnaire in which students were asked to express their personalpoint of view about the usage of social network Facebook in a teaching process in a way it was doneduring the course “Digital telecommunications”. Positive attitude about it hat 81% of students.

Fig 1. General impression on usage of Facebook in a teaching process

Yes81%

No19%

Should we use Facebook in a teaching processduring some other courses as it was done during

the course “Digital telecommunications”?




Even 92% students claimed that contents which were offered on Facebook helped them to understandbetter the curriculum.

Fig 2. Impact that Facebook contents had on better understanding of the curriculum

Fig 3. The most useful contents on Facebook

At the end of the questionnaire students could add their comment about positive and negative aspect ofusing the social network Facebook in a teaching process. It is interesting that they have pointed out goodcommunication with a professor and an easy way of getting necessary information, not only from theirfellow students but from their professors as well, to be a positive aspect.

Yes92%

No8%

Facebook contents helped better understandingof the curriculum

34%

25%

15%

26%

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

blackboardsphotographs

weekly assignments asking questions onthe Facebook wall

fast and informalcommunicationwith a professor

The most useful contents on Facebook account “Digitalne TK” were:




4. CONCLUSION

Regardless the fact that this research has comprised the small group of students, the obtained result areof great importance. It was deduced that students have got a positive attitude towards the usage of thesocial network Facebook in a teaching process. The stress was set on communication and exchange ofinformation among students and their professors. This conclusion is encouraging and gives furtherguidelines on how to use and develop future capacities for using social networks. It has been plannedthat to continue to use Facebook in a teaching process for the course “Digital communication” in thenext school year at ICT College in Belgrade. Some drawbacks will be eliminated at the beginning dueto obtained experiences. It is expected that new results will enhance the teaching process additionallyand that they will help use capacities offered by social networks in the curriculum even better.

REFERENCESEvans, M. (2013), The Evolution of the Web - From Web 1.0 to Web 4.0, Centre for Security,Communications and Network Research, Plymouth University, viewed 10 January 2013,<http://www.cscan.org/presentations/08-11-06-MikeEvans-Web.pdf>

Ivana Janjić, Rodica Ursulescu-Miličić, Laura Spariosu, Facebook as a medium for exchanginginformation among students, papaer presented on the 8th International Scientific Conference"eLearning and Software for Education", Bucharest, April 26 - 27, 2012

Microsoft research (2012), viewed 15 January 2013, <http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/cambridge/projects/sensecam/>

Michalic, M. (2012), Viralblog, viewed on 7 January 2013, <http://www.viralblog.com/social-media/the-current-state-of-social-networks-2012/>

Milin, P. (1999), Odabrane teme opšte psihologije. Psihologija učenja, Faculty of Philosophy Belgrade

Nadkarni, A., Hofmann, S., (2012), Department of Psychiatry, Boston Medical Center, BostonUniversity, Why do people use Facbook? In Personality and Individual Differences.

Natalija Vugdelija, Ana Savić, Nikola Knežević, Korišćenje socijalnih medija za online aktivacijubudućih studenata, paper presented on XI International Scientific – Professional SymposiumINFOTEH®-JAHORINA 2012, 21 - 23 March, 2012

Serbia Facebook Statistics, viewed 10 January 2013, <http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/serbia>

Social Network Statistics, viewed 9 January 2013, <http://www.statisticbrain.com/social-networking-statistics/>

Steve Hodges, Emma Berry and Ken Wood, Microsoft research 2009, SenseCam: A wearable camerawhich stimulates and rehabilitates autobiographical memory

Special, W., Li-Barber, K. (2012) Department of Psychology, High Point University, NC, United States,Self-disclosure and student stisfaction with Facebook. Copmuters in Human Behaviour.

V.Radosavljevic, N.Vugdelija, (2013) Društvene mreže kao web 2.0 alat u nastavnom procesu, paperpresented on XII International Scientific – Professional Symposium INFOTEH®-JAHORINA 2013,20 - 22 March




INQUIRY BASED EDUCATION AT PRIMARY SCHOOLS

THROUGH SCHOOL GARDENSZbynek Vacha, Jan Petr

University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Education

Jeronymova 10, CZ - 371 15, Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic

Abstract

Multiple recent studies point towards an alarming decrease in the numbers of young people interestedin the natural sciences. We can see that for the natural sciences to be reborn as an attractive field ofstudy, we need to change the approach to the teaching of the natural sciences, we need to change thecontent, the form and the methods of teaching, we need to emphasize the interdisciplinary connection offindings and the developing of individual and creative approaches. Currently, multiple initiatives arerunning throughout Europe, attempting to re-establish the education of science through inquiry basedlearning.

To start with the inquiry based education following subjects seem to be ideal - geology, physiology ofplants, physiology of animals and humans, ecology, plants cultivation from the view of applied botanics.The ideal space for exploration oriented approach could be school gardens especially when we considerthe quantity of material to be found there and to be researched.

Key words: Education, Inquiry based learning, School garden

RESEARCH SUBJECTTo determine the status of school gardens in the Czech education and to analyse possibilities andprerequisites of school gardens for inquiry based education at the infant level of primary schools.

INTRODUCTION

According to Abel, Smith and Volkmann (2004), Shipman (2004), Osborne and Dillon (2008) orKorthagen (2011), in recent years the field of natural sciences registers slow recession of so farprevailing deductive education and accession of the inquiry based education (IBE) with the emphasison "hands-on "activities (Bell, 2008), while IBE also represents a teaching strategy as well as apedagogical process model (Bybee, 2004). It is a didactic style that originated in United States ofAmerica in 1950´s (DeBoer, 1991). In Europe the said pedagogical trends emerged at early 1990´s(Vohra, 2000). From among Czech-language literature we may point out the translation English-Czechdictionary (Mareš & Gavora, 1999) in which we may find the "inquiry teaching" phrase, which istranslated as teaching through exploration (Janík & Stuchlíková, 2010). Linn, Davis and Bell (2007)perceive IBE as a didactic process in which the teacher does not pass the subject matter in a finishedform, but individual pupils acquire knowledge through solving a particular problem. Therefore theywork in a similar manner as in a real-world research (Papáček, 2010). They assume the initiative inobservation, measurement and experimentation, develop procedures to support or confute sethypotheses, analyse the data obtained and draw conclusions (Rocard et al., 2007). Such methods




positively affect the self-esteem, motivation to further learning as well as collegiality among students(Bell, 2008). Therefore the aim of IBE is to provide pupils and students an understanding of what the(natural) science is (Janík & Stuchlíková, 2010).

Teachers applying IBE are actually kind of pupil learning facilitators (Schwarz & Crawford, 2004), actas a guide responsible for the conduct of the teaching process and are the key element in the classroom.Limited knowledge and experience in the field of scientific literacy then prevent teachers inimplementation of the inquiry based teaching (Gallagher, 1991). According to Petr (2010) selected tasksof the Biology Olympiad (BiO) are appropriate for this kind of teaching. BiO task or series of tasksrequire a different approach to the solution than the often applied standard system of questions andanswers. The competition tasks lead pupils to apply more demanding intellectual operations. These arethe same operations that form basis of IBE.

Fig. 1 Inquiry based education

Source: Carin, Bass and Contant, 2005

Inquiry based work methods in natural science education are very important formative element in pupil'slearning about the real world. Already at the infant level pupils should be able to recognize simpleproblems, suggest solutions and then implement them in practice, discuss problems and solutionssuggested with classmates, apply observations, measurements and use simple devices, distinguishnatural objects and man-made elements, describe basic life cycles, organisms and the environment inwhich they occur (Výzkumný ústav pedagogický, 2007). However, in teaching natural science subjectsit is important to establish a balance between theory and empirical exploration as to fully develop pupil´s




exploration in natural science education, i.e. both in terms of theory and experiment (Janoušková, Novák& Maršák, 2008).

Edelson, Gordin and Pea (1999) consider the main advantages of IBE the development of criticalthinking, improved understanding, acquisition of skills in scientific principles as well as the ability tosearch and discover in particular. These authors identify level of existing knowledge and skills ofindividual pupils, required for exploration the main difficulty in IBE implementation, as well as time-consuming use of exploration elements in teaching and inadequate material resources available toindividual educational institutions.

The following fields of education are probably best suited for the first steps of IBE implementation:geology, plant physiology, animal and human physiology designed with model invertebrate organismsand pupils (man) as the studied objects, ecology and environmental issues as well as plant growing fromthe perspective of applied botany and plant physiology (Papáček, 2010).

The ideal IBE space could be school gardens, particularly due to sufficient amount of experimentalmaterial and space. At present, their application in the educational process is unfortunately limited,though they provide an irreplaceable environment for simulation of the real world and a space for fieldteaching application near the elementary school buildings.

Many authors (e.g. Smith & Motsenbocker, 2005, Robinson & Zajicek, 2005, Cutter-Mackenzie, 2008)perceive school gardens as a modern educational tool and strategy that enables teachers to integratepractical activities to their teaching in a variety of interdisciplinary areas. They provide a dynamicenvironment in which students are involved in observing, exploring, experimenting and are subject toeducational and learning process. Garden is a living laboratory where real-life experience is acquiredmore vividly than through examples in textbooks, allowing students to become active participants inlearning.

The current Czech concept of education "Framework Educational Programme for Primary Education"and the application period of the "School Educational Programme" provide teachers unique opportunityto integrate elements of IBE and school gardens into the teaching process, not only in natural sciences.It turns out that in this way pupils may deliver the expected outcomes and gain key competencies in afriendly form at the cognitive, attitudinal and activity levels (Horká, 1996).

PRESENT RESEARCH ON THE USE OF SCHOOL GARDENS

The Chaloupky centre of environmental education conducted an extensive and unique focusquestionnaire survey through email correspondence within the Czech Republic in 2004 and 2007. Theintention was to reach all 4253 primary and special schools, of which they managed to contact 3807(90%). In total 486 completed questionnaires returned. A total of 80.5% of the participating primaryschools owned a school garden. The remaining 19.5% consist of 13.1% of schools, which previouslyowned the garden, and 6.4% of schools that never had a garden (Burešová et al., 2007). We tried tofollow this research project. The aim was to obtain current information about the use of school gardensin different areas of education in 2013, i.e. at the time when school gardens are no longer seen as purelygrowing gardens and wide range of applications is considered. Current research works in the world (e.g.Graham et al., 2005 and Gould Group, 2008) point to a growing trend of support for use of schoolgardens in school environment.




RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Data was collected through a questionnaire survey and analysis of educational programmes of individualschools with regard to inclusion of activities implemented in or available for school gardens at the infantlevel of primary schools. Data collection was affected by the negative trend in the Czech environmentin unwillingness of schools to participate in the survey. Therefore sending questionnaires in email formwas stopped. Questionnaires were completed by teachers at the infant level of primary schools alwaysduring personal meetings with the authors. This factor had an impact on lower number of cooperatingschools. The fact that most teachers at the infant level of primary schools are women affected the genderrepresentation of (95% of the sample were women). It was a so-called selection available.

The questionnaire contained 17 questions and was divided into 6 areas: a) identification, b) generalinformation about the school garden, c) the use of school garden in teaching, d) further use of schoolgarden, e) inquiry based education and f) questions for schools which do not have school gardenavailable for use. The research tool was created by modifying questionnaires of the Chaloupky centreof environmental education (Burešová et al., 2007) and Gregory and Fisher (2011) for research in thestate of California. The questionnaire was pilot tested by randomly selected 20 teachers at the infantlevel of primary schools and subsequently adapted into a final form. Data was collected from October2012 to March 2013. Personal approach to individual teachers provided 100% return of completedquestionnaires. In total 62 teachers from 62 primary schools cooperated in the survey. The sampleincluded both teachers beginners (1st year in practice) and on the other hand teachers with years ofexperience (maximum specified time of practice was 36 years). The average experience of therespondents was 11.6 years.

Fig. 2 Availability of school gardens

74%

26%

School garden availability

the school uses theschool garden

the school does not usethe school garden




RESULTS

School garden are available to 46 schools, a full 74% of respondents. Only 16 (26%) schools do not owna garden. From that nine schools (14.5%) had a school garden in the past and 7 schools (11.5%) neverused a garden. Vast majority of gardens (44) is situated on campus. The other two schools have schoolgardens located within 10 minutes' walk from the school building. School gardens so provide a well-accessible place for potential implementation of field education.

The school garden areas is less than 100 m2 in 6 schools, 22 schools own school garden of the sizeranging from 100 to 500 m2, 13 respondents use as a school garden of the area of 500-1000 m2 and theremaining 5 schools have available a garden that covers more than 1,000 m2. Larger gardens surelyprovide sufficient space for experimental purposes, however smaller gardens may substitute missingequipment of schools and simulate a living laboratory suitable for applications of experiments,observations and other activities supported pupil's active involvement in education.

Teaching in the school gardens

Stable number of hours dedicated to teaching in the school garden is set in 43.5% of schools, and theremaining 56.5% of participating schools do not have a set stable number of hours for teaching in theschool garden but in most cases they use the garden within individual subjects as needed for teachingand the discussed topic. 97.8% of the schools that have a school garden available use it for teaching atleast one subject. Only 2.2% of addressed schools that own a school garden do not use its environmentfor learning purposes.

In the Czech Republic each school develops its own educational programme, which is based on theFramework Educational Programme (FEP). This fact allows incorporation of school gardenenvironment into teaching in different sectors of education. At present, the subjects are classified invarious areas of education. There are seven areas defined for primary schools: 1) Language andCommunication, 2) Mathematics and Its Applications, 3) Information and Communication Technology,4) Man and His World, 5) Man and World of Work, 6) Arts and Culture and 7) Human and Health. Useof school gardens in the above mentioned areas of education in the schools involved in the research isvery diverse. School garden is mostly used in teaching in the educational areas of the Man and Worldof Work (84.7% of schools), Man and His World (69.6%), and Human and Health (65%). Schoolgardens are used especially to teach subjects integrating soil science, its origin and development,minerals and rocks science. In the field of wildlife the topics include in particular essentials of life andindications, body structure and importance of plants, fungi and animals as well as environmentalprotection. However, the survey showed that also in other educational areas teachers at primary schoolsmore or less use the school gardens for teaching.




Fig. 3 Use of school gardens in individual educational areas

Amenity frequency of occurrence

Department of ornamental plants 30

Compost heap 29

Vegetable department 24

Orchard 20

Greenhouse 20

Natural classroom 18

Department of medicinal plants 16

Other 12

Dry habitat (rock garden) 8

Beetle field 6

Aquatic habitat (pond) 4

Weather station 4

Geological trail 3

Tab. 1 School garden amenities

Amenities of school gardens illustrate the current trend. School gardens are no longer seen as purelygrowing, but allow a wide range of applications in all areas of education, especially in educational areas

84.7%69.6%

65.0%32.6%

19.5%8.7%

4.3%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Man and world of workMan and his worldHuman and health

Arts and cultureLanguage and communication

Mathematics and its ApplicationsInformation and communication…

Use of school gardens in individual areasof education at primary schools




defined by FEP, Man and World of Work, Man and His World and Human and Health. Amongadditional amenities of school gardens the schools indicated so called insect hotel, heath, tactile path,sundials, bird and bat boxes, feeders or sports field. This results in greater potential usability of schoolgardens for other activities.

Another section of the questionnaire was designed to determine awareness of primary school teachersabout IBE. When asked whether they know the concept of inquiry based education 32 teachersresponded positively (52%). 30 (48%) respondents have not heard about the inquiry based educationbefore. The results may be interpreted that the general knowledge of inquiry based pedagogicalapproaches gets into awareness among teachers in the Czech Republic but have not yet fully reachedthe primary schools.

Fig. 4 Awareness of Czech primary school teachers about IBE

Most teachers received information about the IBE through university studies. They are particularlyjunior teachers who have completed university studies in recent years and learned the current trends inthe field of natural sciences at the university. Senior teachers who reported that they are aware of IBEreceived the information at university within lifelong learning programs. The second most frequentlyindicated source of information about IBE is the Internet. 28.1% of teachers learned about IBE fromtheir colleagues, 12.5% indicated seminar aimed at IBE primarily organized by the University of SouthBohemia in České Budějovice and Masaryk University in Brno during the IBE Summer Schools, 12.5%of teachers received information from literature.

52%48%

Awareness of primary school teachersabout inquiry based education

awareness aboutIBE

no awarenessabout IBE




Fig. 5 Sources of awareness of primary school teachers about IBE

60% of respondents indicated lack of resources (labs, tutorials ...) as a main obstacle in inquiry basededucation implementation, while 56.7% of respondents indicated time-consuming research activities,35% professional development in IBE, 15% little support in curriculum documents and 3.3% currentlydiscussed natural science topics.

Fig. 6 Limits of IBE application in primary school education

62.5%

31.3%

28.1%

12.5%

12.5%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

University study

Internet

Other teachers

IBE focused seminars

Professional literature

Sources of awareness of primary schoolteachers about IBE

60.0%

56.7%

35.0%

15.0%

3.3%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Resources

Lack of time

Professional development

Little support of curriculum documents

Discussed natural science topics

Limits of IBE application in primaryschool education




Of 62 respondents 58 (93.6%) believes that school gardens provide a suitable potential for applicationof IBE elements, only 2 (3.2%) responded that school gardens are not appropriate for implementationof IBE elements and 2 respondents were not sure. These results correspond with the assumption thatenvironment of school gardens provides a suitable environment for IBE application. The Man and HisWord, particularly scientific observations in natural environment seem to be the most appropriate areafor application of IBE elements in the environment of school gardens. Currently, the five schools whoseteachers indicated in the survey that no school garden is available to them for use even considerestablishment or restoration of their school garden. The main reason is the current trend of transitionfrom pure growing function of gardens to their wider use in education.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

When comparing the current survey with the one undertaken by Chaloupky environmental andecological centre in 2007, we observed a reduced percentage of schools that use school gardens. In 2007,this figure exceeded 80%. In our survey 74% of participating schools responded that they use a schoolgarden. These results do not correspond to international surveys which indicate increased use of schoolgardens in education (e.g. Graham et al., 2005, Gould Group 2008). A possible explanation may be thefact that the survey undertaken by Chaloupky environmental and ecological centre in 2007 wasconducted via electronic questionnaires. It can be assumed that the preferably representatives of schoolsthat use a school garden responded to the e-mail inquiry. This may explain the higher percentage ofschools using school gardens compared to 2013.

When comparing results concerning use of school gardens for educational activities both surveysprovide similar data. In 2007, 40.2% of respondents indicated that a stable number of hours dedicatedto teaching in the school garden is set in their Educational Programme and 56.3% of schools respondednegatively. Current data reveal that 43.5% of schools have a stable number of hours dedicated toteaching in the school garden, comparing to remaining 43.5%. Both surveys have shown that the gardensin the Czech environment are used in all educational areas. Gardens are most frequently visited by pupilswithin the Man and the World of Work educational area. However, when compared to 2007, its share isdeclining in favour of the Man and His World and Human and Health educational areas. This finding isconsistent with the results of Graham et al. (2005), which highlights the enhanced use of school land.

Looking at inquiry-oriented activities realized or realizable in the environment of school gardens weidentify certain tendencies within the research which we will now try to interpret. In specification ofactivities suitable for teaching in school gardens respondents indicated particularly educational topicssuch as: soil science, its origin and development, minerals and rocks science. In the field of wildlife thetopics include in particular essentials of life and indications, body structure and importance of plants,fungi and animals as well as environmental protection. When asked in what areas of teaching the inquirybased education elements would be the most appropriate to apply most teachers answered that in thearea of the Man and His World, i.e. the area of teaching about both animate and inanimate nature. Fromthese results we may certainly point out at least the theoretical potential of appropriate linking of schoolgardens and IBE, which corresponds to the view of the 58 respondents out of 62, who stated that schoolgardens are a suitable environment for application of IBE elements.

The most frequently mentioned obstacle in implementation of IBE elements is lack of resources ofindividual schools, including laboratories, teaching materials, simple devices. Yet according toRobinson and Zajicek (2005) or Cutter-Mackenzie (2008) school gardens represent a living laboratoryproviding gaining of real-life experience more vividly than from examples in textbooks, while the




gardens are able to provide a lot of experimental material and the necessary space. This phenomenon iscurrently supported by a higher proportion of built model habitats and features such as: geological trail,beetle field, insect hotel, weather station etc. Here we see another opportunity for proper linking of IBEand school gardens, which may at least partly substitute the missing resources in school buildings forcertain educational areas.

The second element reported, limiting application of IBE elements, is the time-consuming character.From the very characteristics of IBE it is clear that these elements in education will require more time,both for teacher preparation and for the application, and that these elements cannot be appliedcontinuously. However, at present, when performance of pupils and popularity of natural sciencesubjects are decreasing (McKinsey and Company, 2010, Williams 2003), it is necessary to include atleast occasionally forms of teaching in which pupils become their more active part. The reason is tomake it more attractive and to enhance pupils' perception and understanding of the curriculum inparticular. Beyond the fact that teachers indicate time as a limiting factor for IBE often stands ratherexcessive devotion to factual teaching and teachers' reluctance to move towards methods where pupilstake over the lead in observations, measurements and experiments (Welsch, Klopfer & Aikenhead,1981). In the survey 44 of 46 schools responded that their garden is situated within the campus and 2schools responded that their garden is within a 10 minute walk, which means that occasional transfer ofpupils from the classrooms to outdoor environment is not impractical and excessively time-consuming.

In conclusion we can say that the environment of school gardens constantly fights for greater attentionwithin the educational process. Only time will show whether we are able to exploit the potential ofschool gardens which they undoubtedly offer, whether we will be able to get pupils partially from theclassrooms and computer monitors to provide them learning in the nature at least occasionally. Doingso we will support perception of nature in pupil´s immediate vicinity that may have a positive impacton pupils to create a positive relationship to nature (Fenoughty, 2001). Inquiry based education elementsthen may help us to make learning more attractive and to encourage interest in natural science in general.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The study was funded by a grant of the Grant Agency of the University of Bohemia GA JU 078/2013/S

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PECULIARITIES OF STUDENTS’ TIME PLANNING FOR SELF –

STUDY OF MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICSZita Baužienė, Angelė Gurklienė, Janina Morkūnienė,

Kauno kolegija/ University of Applied Sciences

Pramonės pr. 20, Kaunas, Lithuania

Abstract

One of the essential parts of a learning process is autonomous studies including completion of individualassignments, search and studies of literature sources and group work. This part is completely controlledby the student. Independent learning takes a certain portion of student's time that is difficult to measureprecisely. V. Tint's theory and the neoliberal learning paradigm grounds the conducted quantitativeresearch based on the content analysis of the specially designed open-ended survey question data. Theresearch results reveal that the success of autonomous learning depends on both the student and theteacher as they communicate and collaborate during the process of learning. The research has beenconducted among students of social sciences and students of technological sciences to identifyadvantages and drawbacks of autonomous learning. The respondents distinguished several thingsimportant in autonomous learning: group discussions; planning and control of learning time;development of autonomy and an increase of self-responsibility. The identified drawbacks ofautonomous learning include: technical and socio-psychological aspects, insufficient management oftime devoted to learning as well as shortcomings in managing the training process.

Key words: autonomous learning; planning of autonomous learning time; competences.

The Bologna process has set a goal to make higher education a major contributor to the development ofcreative and innovative knowledge society in Europe by 2020. Europe's aging society faces a necessityto employ competences and abilities of its all citizens involving them into lifelong learning and highereducation. Higher education institutions are instructed to reform their learning syllabuses to ensure thequality of studies. The Bologna instruments highlight the necessity for students to pay more attention toautonomous learning.

The aim of article is to evaluate students’ ability to plan their time devoted to autonomous studies ofPhysics and Math.

The objectives of the study:

· to identify peculiarities of autonomous learning in high education institutions on the basis of theanalysis of scientific literature;

· to estimate students’ ability to plan their time devoted to autonomous studies of Physics and Math;· and to identify advantages and drawbacks of autonomous learning.

The research has incorporated a review of the experience of higher education institutions in planningstudents’ autonomous learning. The following research methods have been used when preparing anarticle: analysis of scientific literature, qualitative research and content analysis of the responses to openquestions of a specially designed questionnaire. The research is based on V. Tint's (1975) theory stating




that autonomous learning is a key factor that determines learning results and duration. Dependence oflearning results on learning duration and the duration of autonomous learning has also been estimatedduring the research. Interviews of the respondents were conducted online. Results of the research wereprocessed by means of LimeSurvey, Microsoft Exsel 2010.

1. THE CONCEPT OF AUTONOMOUS STUDIES

Problems of autonomous learning are relevant as in the context of higher education they are associatedwith students’ responsibility for the learning results. The neoliberal learning paradigm distinguishes thestudent as a major participant and client in the process of education (Olsen, Codd et. al., 2010). Theneoliberal approach states that the individual and not the state or the community is responsible forpersonal education and adaptability in the labour market. Researchers in autonomous learning (Sinclairet al., 2000, Warring, 2010) tend to ascribe autonomous learning to general competences including anability to analyze and reflect on individual learning. Researchers also emphasize that autonomouslearning fosters development of self-sufficiency. However, the process is time consuming andsometimes requires specific training as well as learning management competences. According to S.Warring (2010), Sinclair B. et al. (2000), autonomous learning associates with such concepts as learner’sautonomy, learning to learn and thinking abilities. S. Warring (2010) claims that autonomous learningis a process that allows a learner to independently acquire, analyze and critically assess knowledge. S.Warrning (2010) distinguishes four learning levels:· the first level: unable and unwilling (poor competences, low motivation, low level of self-confidence,

reluctance to take responsibility);· the second level: unable but willing (poor competences, high motivation, high level of self-

confidence);· the third level: able but unwilling (developed competences, low motivation, low level of self-

confidence, shared responsibility);· the fourth level: able and willing (developed competences, high motivation, and full responsibility).

Lithuanian researchers also expose interest in autonomous learning. G. Gedvilienė et al. (2012)distinguishes partial and full autonomy of learning. The authors state that full autonomy occurs onlywhen the learner independently plans, chooses and implements learning strategies. Partial autonomy isdescribed only by the implementation of autonomous learning strategies. The authors also distinguishfactors impeding autonomous learning: excessive or insufficient control by the teacher, lack ofautonomy or self-confidence and insufficient resources. Negative factors also include excessiveworkload, irrelevant pace of training and other aspects associated with poor quality of training.According to S. Budrienė et al. (2011), autonomous studies is a constituent part of the training process,that comprises completion of various tasks, written assignments, reading of literature sources, projectwork, etc. and is the most complicated to measure in terms of time it takes. The authors highlight thatthe time devoted to autonomous studies depends on the complexity of the subject to be studied.Techniques of estimation of the time taken by autonomous studies normally include a questionnaire ora workload planning table where students indicate actual time spent on studies.

2. EXPERIENCE OF AUTONOMOUS LEARNING RESEARCHERS

Surveys reveal that some students face difficulties in planning time allocated for autonomous studies.The problem of planning was spotted by J. R. Tanner et al. (2007) whose research revealed that moststudents who claim their autonomous studies take 13.31 hours a week actually study only for 11.65




hours. Research done by C. Wetzel (2007) reveals positive aspects of autonomous learning: learningfrom own mistakes, time planning, autonomous search of sources, favourable conditions to reflect onown examples and independent assignments.

L. Harvey (2008) claims that studies are not a consumer service as they constitute a complex process ofpersonal development that involves both the students, teachers and scientists. The author also highlightsthat a study process encourages students to think and perform independently.

Results of the longitudinal research by B. S. Grave (2010) carried out in 1986-2006 reveal that:· duration of autonomous studies of men shortened from 14.683 to 10.269 hours a week until 2003

and increased to 11.966 hours a week by 2006, whereas the same numbers for women havefluctuated around 12.497 hours a week since 1997;

· bright students dedicate more time to autonomous studies, that is 13.050 hours a week, whereasautonomous studies of weaker students take only 11.349 hours a week;

· at the top of the list are students of engineering and sciences, whose autonomous studies take 13.507hours a week; students of social sciences work autonomously 11.592 hours a week and students ofarts and humanities allocate 10.724 hours for autonomous studies a week;

· students’ approach toward autonomous learning is basically positive when they are given clearlearning objectives and assessment criteria;

· mandatory attendance adversely effects students’ motivation to focus on autonomous studies.

To sum up, it may be stated that the quality of autonomous studies depends on

· teacher’s abilities to manage the process of studies and relevance of tasks to be accomplishedautonomously,

· students’ readiness to study autonomously, ability to think autonomously, motivation and personalqualities including level of responsibility, capability and diligence.

3. SUMMARY OF RESEARCH RESULTS

The quality research was carried out in March and April 2013. The research involved 252 first yearstudents of Business Management, Technologies and Landscaping faculties from Kauno kolegija/University of Applied Sciences. 45.1 % of the respondents study technological sciences and 54.9%study social sciences. The group of technological sciences included students of Interior and FurnitureDesign, Production of Furniture and Wood Products, Real Estate Measurement Engineering, Geodesy,Gardening and Landscape Design and Engineering of Planted Territory. The group of social sciencesincluded students of Tourism and Hotel Management, Sales Management and Business Management.The majority of the respondents study Business Management (31%), whereas students of Engineeringof Planted Territory took the least active part in the research (2%) (see picture 1).

Results of the research (see picture 2) reveal that students of social sciences allocate to autonomouslearning 11.20 hours a week, including about 1.20 hours for Math studies, whereas students oftechnologies allocate 13.5 hours a week, including 1.38 hours for Physics and 1.29 hours for Math. Thevalues are very similar to the results of the research by B. S. Grave (2010) (see chapter 2). Students oftechnological sciences spend most of the time (4.5 hours a week) on completion of individualassignments, whereas group work on individual assignments is paid least the time. Students of socialsciences spend most of their time on computer aided completion of tasks and least the time on individualassignments.




Picture 1 Dispersion of the respondents according to training programmes

Picture 2 Dispersion of mean values of autonomous learning time (hours)

It has to be mentioned that all respondents learned Math at the secondary school at the advanced (A) orbasic (B) level and only 34.80% of the respondents studied Physics during the entire secondary coursewhereas the remaining quitted the subject in the 10th form. Thus, their level of Math and Physics waslower than that of the students who studied the subjects at the advanced level at school. The researchreveals that the students spend similar amount of time on autonomous learning of Math and Physics (seepicture 3). 40% of the respondents in the group spend 1-2 hours a week on autonomous studies in Physicsand Math, 30% of students study autonomously 2-3 hours a week and about 2% spend 4-5 hours a weekon the subjects.

Interior andFurniture Design

8%

Production ofFurniture andWood Products

9%Real Estate

MeasurementEngineering

5%Geodesy11%

Gardening andLandscape

Design10%

Engineering ofPlanted

Territory2%

BusinessManagement

31%

SalesManagement

12%

Tourism andHotel

Management12%

0.960.7

4.21.46

3.8811.2

2.11.8

4.11

4.513.5

0 5 10 15

time spent on literature studiestime spent to complete autonomous assignments

time spent on computer aided completion of taskstime spent on group discussions

time spent on task completiontime spent on autonomous learning

Technologies Social sciences




Picture 3. Dispersion of time spent on autonomous learning of Math and Physics bystudents who studied Math at the basic level at the secondary school and quitted

Physics in the 10th form

Picture 4 Dispersion of time spent on autonomous learning of Math and Physics by students whostudied Math at the advanced level at the secondary school and took the entire secondary course of

Physics

Students who studied Math at the advanced level at the secondary school and took the entire secondarycourse of Physics expose better competences than the previous group (see picture 4). 40 % of themspend 1-2 hours a week on autonomous studies of Math and 30 % on Physics. Comparison with theprevious group gives a discrepancy. 20 % of the advanced Math level students and only 2 % of the basiclevel students spend 4-5 hours a week on autonomous completion of tasks. 10 % of the advanced Physicslevel students spend 4-5 hours a week on autonomous completion of tasks whereas only 2% of the basiclevel students devote the same time to the assignments.

0

20

40

0.5 academichours

1-2 academichours

2-3 academichours

3-4 academichours

4-5 academichours

studied Math at the basic level at the secondaryschool and contributed time to autonomous taskcompletion (%)

quit Physics in the 10th form at the secondaryschool and contributed time to autonomous taskcompletion (%)

0

20

400.5 academic hours

1-2 academic hours

2-3 academic hours

3-4 academic hours

4-5 academic hours

5-6 academic hours

studied Math at the advancedlevel at the secondary school andcontributed time to autonomoustask completion (%)took the entire secondary courseof Physics and contributed timeto autonomous task completion(%)




Table 1. Comparison of Math and Physics results achieved in the secondary school andthe University (%)

Math Physics

Grade

In thesecondaryschool

Universityof AppliedSciences

Differencebetween

grading atschool andUniversity

In thesecondaryschool

Universityof AppliedSciences

Differencebetween

grading atschool andUniversity

excellent 4.49 1.49 3 10.08 7.04 3.04

very good 11.06 5.77 5.29 21.17 5.63 15.54

good 10.22 13.43 -3.21 14.05 7.04 7.01

average 25 22.89 2.11 35.21 22.68 12.53

satisfactory 27.86 28.9 -1.04 13.36 22.68 -9.32

poor 21.37 23.93 -2.56 6.13 29.58 -23.45

failed 0 3.59 -3.59 0 5.35 -5.35

The comparative analysis shows that grading of Math and Physics differs in the secondary school and theUniversity (see table 1). Higher grading of both Math and Physics prevails in the secondary school and lowergrading is observed at the University. The research also reveals that grading of students who spend more time onautonomous learning is the same or higher at the University than in the secondary school. Similarly, lower gradingin Physics is observed among students who quitted Physics at the 10th form. Very few students who studied basiclevel of Math at school receive higher grades of Math at Kaunas University of Applied Sciences,

During the research, the time spent on autonomous learning was divided into separate parts: 1) time spent to readindividual assignments, 2) time for literature studies, 3) time for autonomous completion of tasks (i.e. problemsolution, processing of data, etc.), and 4) time for group discussions.

The research reveals that most students spend up to 0.5 hours for reading individual assignments in Math andPhysics (see picture 5). Students of social sciences spend from 0.5 to 2 hours a week on reading individual tasksin Math whereas time spent on reading Math and Physics assignments by students of technologies varies from 0.5to 2.5 hours a week. Students of lower level fall into two categories: those who spend only 0.5 hours on readingand those who spend more time. The latter include A and B level students whose Math and Physics grades at theUniversity exceed average. The research also reveals that students of technologies spend more time on readingindividual assignments than students of social sciences.

Picture 5 Dispersion of students according to time spent on reading individual assignments

0102030405060

0-0.5 0.5-1 1-1.5 1.5-2 2-2.5

%

Time allocation (hours)

Dispersion of time spent on reading Mathassignments by students of social sciences

Dispersion of time spent on reading Mathassignments by students of technologies

Dispersion of time spent on reading Physicsassignments by students of technologies




Comparison of time spent on literature studies (see picture 6) shows that students of both technologiesand social sciences spend the same time of 0.5 to 3 hours a week on studies. The research reveals that45% of students of social sciences spend only 0.5 hours on literature studies, 20% need 1 hour and lessthan 5 % need about 3 hours. Among students of technologies, 30 % spend 0.5 hours and over 15 %spend 3 hours a week on literature studies.

6 Picture Dispersion of students according to time spent on literature studies

The research reveals that students of social sciences and technologies fall into three groups according tothe time spent on completion of individual assignments (see picture 7): group I spent 1 to 3 hours aweek, group II spent 4 to 8 hours a week, group III spent 8 to 10 hours a week. Among students of socialsciences, 25 % students spend up to 3 hours a week on completion of individual Math assignments, 25% need up to 10 hours, and the remaining need 4 to 8 hours. Students of technologies spent similar timeto complete individual assignments of both Math and Physics. However, a discrepancy has beenobserved among those who spent 2 to 3 hour a week on the assignments. This amount of time is takenby less than 5% students to complete tasks of Physics and by 20% to complete Math assignments.

Picture 7 Dispersion of students according to time spent on completion of individualassignments

0

10

20

30

40

50

0-0.5 0.5-1 1-1.5 1.5-2 2-2.5 2.5-3

%


Dispersion of time spent on studies ofMath literature by students of socialsciences Dispersion of time spent on studies ofMath literature by students oftechnologies Dispersion of time spent on studies ofPhysics literature by students oftechnologies

05

1015202530

%


Dispersion of time spent on autonomous Mathassignments by students of social sciences

Dispersion of time spent on autonomous Mathassignments by students of technologies

Dispersion of time spent on autonomousPhysics assignments by students of technologies




Picture 8 Dispersion of students according to time spent on group discussions

Comparison of time spent on group discussions shows that 30% of students held discussions onindividual assignments for up 1 hour a week. However over 30 % of students of technologies needed upto 8 to 9 hours a week for group discussions on assignments of Math and Physics. Among students ofsocial sciences, 30 % spent up to 1 hour a week on group discussions on Math assignments, about 25 %needed up to 2 hours, about 15 % needed 2 to 4 hours and less than % spent 4 to 9 hours a week.

Content analysis of the open questions has revealed positive aspects of autonomous studies in Math andPhysics comprising opportunities to:

· discuss in groups with peers; that helped eliminate gaps in knowledge of Math and Physics (sampleresponses include: “<...to understand quicker, to clarify >”; “<...to understand and learn newthings.>”);

· plan and manage time allocated for autonomous studies (e.g. “<...group discussions encouragedme to timely complete assignments...>”; “<...was afraid to have my name in the list of leggingstudents.>”);

· develop autonomy (e.g. “<...I had no choice but to complete my part of the task on time”; „I wasresponsible for graphs and I had to learn to complete them...>”);

· boost personal responsibility level (e.g. “<...my group would have been given bad grades unless Ihad completed on time”; “I was responsible for ...>”).

Table 2 Obstacles in autonomous learning

Obstacles Meaningful units Interpretations

Students of social sciences

Technical: “<Work on a computer; equations are difficult until youlearn how to deal with them...>; <...poor backgroundknowledge.>; <...took a lot of time to learn...”>; <...useof Excel.”>

Insufficient computer skills, lowlevel of Math knowledge.

Socio-psychological

<“odds in the group. “>; <...mutualmisunderstanding.>; <...arguments on certaindecisions.>; <...difficult to work with new people ...>;<...problems of social laziness...>; <...arrangement of

Insufficient social skills.

05

101520253035

0-1 1-2 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 6-7 7-8 8-9

%


Dispersion of time spent on group discussionson Math assignments by students of socialsciencesDispersion of time spent on group discussionson Math assignments by students oftechnologiesDispersion of time spent on group discussionson Physics assignments by students oftechnologies




time within the group...>; <...felt shortage of knowledge,but I was embarrassed to refer to group mates orteacher.”>.

Shortcomings inthe managingthe trainingprocess

<“too fast to grasp...>; <...failed to understand thetask...>; “<...fail to understand and refuse to read as thescope is too big.”>.

Insufficient backgroundknowledge causing· slow or very slow pace and· additional efforts to read

sources

Insufficient timemanagement

< “...I expected to complete within a day...”; < “...failedto do it overnight, it took three...”>

Wrong planning of time preventsachievement of training results.

Students of technologies

Technical: <“I took a basic level Physics and Math at school and didnot expect I will need them...”>; <...I quit Physics in the10th form...”>; <“...poor background knowledge...”>;<“...insufficient knowledge...>; <...finding a solutiontakes too long...”>; <“...short of knowledge...”>;<...takes too long to find the right formula ...”>.

Insufficient backgroundknowledge of Math and Physics.Unsuccessfully chosen subjects inthe graduate forms withoutconsidering requirements offuture studies.

Socio-psychological

<“Odds within the group...”>; <“...mutualmisunderstanding...”> ;< “...arguments on certaindecisions...”; <...difficult to work with new people ...>;<...problems of social laziness...>; <...arrangement oftime within the group...>.

Insufficient social skills.

Shortcomings inthe managingthe trainingprocess

<“...fast pace...“>; < „...heavy workload...”>; “<... toomuch of everything...”>; <“... too many formulas,difficult to read...”>.

Insufficient readiness of studentsto study technological sciencestakes additional efforts ofstudents to achieve trainingobjectives set in Math andPhysics study programmes.

Insufficient timemanagement

<“...failed to understand and therefore put theassignment aside...”>; <“...got back to the task when theterm was about to expire...”>

Insufficient time managementskills prevent successful studies.

The content analysis of the responses allowed identification of obstacles in autonomous learning (seeTable 2):

· technical, related to IT skills, necessary to accomplish set assignments, and low level of backgroundknowledge of Math and Physics;

· socio-psychological, associated with deficiencies in communication skills preventing successfulgroup collaboration, low level of the sense of responsibility, low motivation and other personalqualities;

· shortcomings in managing the training process associated with an irrelevant training pace used inclasses and tutorials and improper preparation of tasks for autonomous learning;

· insufficient management of time devoted to autonomous learning.




The research validates that autonomous learning is a complex process incorporating a number ofconstituent parts that depend on student’s personal qualities, developed abilities and readiness for studiesin a chosen field. On the other hand, it is a challenge for the teacher, whose task is to communicate andcollaborate with the student and create favourable conditions for the student to achieve learningoutcomes.

4. CONCLUSIONS

1. Analysis of scientific sources reveals that autonomous learning is one of the most importantparameters indicating the quality of training. The time the student allocates to autonomous learningdepends on the individual level of student’s background knowledge, motivation and personal qualities.The quality of student’s autonomous work depends on the teacher’s qualification and ability to manageand control the process of training. These are only a part of aspects that determine duration of student’sautonomous work.

2. The comparison of the time students contribute to autonomous learning reveals that students of socialstudies spend less time on autonomous learning than students of technologies. Students who seek bettertraining results spend more time on autonomous tasks than their peers. Part of the students who took thebasic level of Math at school contribute more time to autonomous learning than their peers and achievebetter results than those whose contributions are modest.

3. The research has revealed advantages of autonomous learning: group discussions; planning andcontrol of learning time; development of autonomy and an increase of self-responsibility. The identifieddrawbacks of autonomous learning include: technical and socio-psychological aspects, insufficientmanagement of time devoted to learning and shortcomings in managing the training process.

REFERENCES

1. Budrienė, S, Gefenas V,2011, Studento darbo krūvio įvertinimas. Prieiga per internetą:

http://www4066.vu.lt/Files/File/Budriene0427.pdf (žiūrėta: 2011-01-20)

2. Gedvilienė, G, Teresevičienė, M, Kaminskienė, L, Žydžiūnaitė, V, 2012, Savimoka ir savarankiškasmokymasis aukštojoje mokykloje: kritinė diskurso analizė.//ACTA PAEDAGOGICA VILNENSIA.29, 47-60.

3. Grave, B, S, 2010,The Effect of Student Time Allocation on Academic Achievement. – RuhrEconomic Papers♯235. Prieiga per internetą:

http://en.rwi-essen.de/grave/publikationen/ (žiūrėta:2010-11-20)

4. Harvey, L, 2008, Quality Culture: understandings, boundaries and linkages.// European Journal ofEducation. 43(4).

5. Lietuvos Respublikos švietimo ir mokslo ministerija, 2010, Svarbiausi Bolonijos procesodokumentai. Vilnius: UAB „Sapnų sala“.

6. Olsen, M, Codd, J, Neil A, M, 2010, Education Policy: Globalization, Citizenship and Democracy:London:SAGA Publications.

7. Sinclair, B, Mcgrath, I, Lame, T,2000, Learner Autonomy, Teacher Autonomy: future directions.Harlow Longman.




8. Tanner, J, R, Stewart, G, Maples, G,M, Totaro, M, V, 2007, How Business Students Spend TheirTime – Do The Really Know? – Research in Higher Educations Journal, 1-9. Prieiga per internetą:

http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/09152.pdf (žiūrėta:2012-12-10)

9. Tinto,V, 1975, Dropout from Higher Education: A Theoretical Synthesis of Recent Research.Review of Educational Research vol.45, pp.89-125.

10. Warring, S, 2010, Facilitating independence amongst Chinese international students completing aBachelor of Applied Business Studies Degree. Innovations in Education and Teaching International.47 (4), 379-392.

11. Wetzel, C, 2007, Soft und Erfolg in Studium und Beruf. Eine vergleichende Studie vonhochbegabten Studenten und Unternehmensberaten. Münster: Waxmann Verlag.




PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF PEDAGOGUES:

LITHUANIA IN THE CONTEXT OF EUROPEAN COUNTRIESValdonė Indrašienė, Odeta Merfeldaitė, Daiva Penkauskienė

Institute of Educology, Mykolas Romeris University,

Ateities st.20, LT-08303, Vilnius, Lithuania

Abstract

A new paradigm of learning raises higher requirements for a teacher: quality and effectiveness are thetwo key words defining the general education policy of the EU and the main objectives of the currentperiod. It is not enough to be a good professional of own subject or have substantial pedagogical-psychological knowledge. Today teachers are required to be able to work in a multi-culturalenvironment, flexibly respond and adapt to changes, individualise and differentiate the content ofeducation, and pursue various social functions (such as vocational counselling, conflict management,mediation etc.). Besides high professional requirements teachers are also required to participate in thecontinuous/further learning process including formal/non-formal professional development, self-education, and studies in state and private vocational training organisations not only within theframework of education but also in other spheres (this is recognised as an exceptional value). In viewof this the Article raises the following questions: how the process of professional development isorganised in various European countries? What professional development practices are applied inLithuania compared to other countries?

Key words: educator, professional development, competence.

1. INTRODUCTION

The contemporary society has been constantly facing intensive changes in social, economic andorganisational life, which, according to A. Hargreaves (2008), are in favour for people involved in largescale education reforms, since it is the first time when policy, practice and research specialists worktogether and learn from each other. Learning is a continuous process which is often related to focusedmodelling of own professional career. According to Ž. Grakauskas and A. Valickas (2007), the currentconcept of career is an integral part of lifelong learning. In other words, professional activity cannotexist without a continuous upgrading of professional skills.

Teachers, school leaders and teacher trainers are the key factors determining the improvement anddevelopment of education and teacher education system. Changes in the education system and societyimpose new requirements to the profession of teachers. Today teachers are required not only to conveythe basic knowledge but also to help young people learn independently, i.e. acquire the main skills ratherthan memorise information; teachers are encouraged to use constructive and cooperative teachingmethods and act as mediators and class tutors rather than authorised instructors (Rutkienė, Zuzevičiūtė2009).

The Council of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as the EU), the EU Commission and otherconcerned European institutions highlight that high level teacher training and further professionaldevelopment is not only a guarantee of success of the entire education system but also one of the main




factors ensuring economic-social welfare of Member States and sustainable development of thesecountries. Pursuant to the EU Council Conclusions of 26 November 2009 „On the ProfessionalDevelopment of Teachers and School Leaders“, initial teacher education, early career support(induction) and continuous professional education should be treated as a coherent whole, since the initialteacher education cannot equip teachers with all the competences they will require during their careers(EU Council Conclusions On the Professional Development of Teachers and School Leaders, 2009).The same approach is applied in Lithuania.

One of the objectives of the National Lisbon Strategy Implementation Programme (2005) is to upgradeteachers‘ competences. In view of this, it is anticipated to „Prepare and submit to the Government of theRepublic of Lithuania a draft National Reform Programme for Teachers Initial and Continuous Trainingand to implement the Programme (Official Gazette, 2005, No 139-5019).

Pursuant to the Lithuanian Strategy of Securing Lifelong Learning (Official Gazette, 2008, No 122-4647), teachers should be provided with a possibility to continuously improve their professional skills.Par.13.2 of the document says that „the main focus in the sphere of developing lifelong learning shouldbe placed on continuing competence learning, which should be acquired by pedagogues engaged in allfields of education. This competence should also be developed by pupils as early as during the stage ofgeneral education.” One of the main objectives of the Strategy of Securing Lifelong Learning is tocreate conditions for persons of different needs and abilities not only to acquire, but also upgrade“qualification and competencies facilitating the placement and setting into the labour market,guaranteeing the progress of the national economy, its competitiveness and sustainable development.”

Development of pedagogues‘ qualification as the main factors of the Lithuanian education system ishighlighted in the draft National Education Strategy for 2013 – 2022: „education shall open theopportunities and propose various services facilitating the development of personal abilities based onprofessional qualifications and self-education, trust in own abilities, self-responsibility andresponsibility for the community, the state and the environment“ (2012). In view of this the firstobjective of the Strategy is to develop the community of pedagogues consisting of reflecting teachersinvolved in the continuous education process and achieving good results.

Thus, for a teacher it is not enough to be good professional in his/her subject and have relevantpedagogical-psychological knowledge; today teachers are required to work in a diverse culturalenvironment, be flexible and adapt to changes, individualise and differentiate the content of education,and pursue various social functions (vocational counselling, conflict management, meditation etc.).Besides high professional requirements teachers are also required to participate in thecontinuous/further learning process including formal/non-formal professional development, self-education, and studies in state and private vocational training organisations not only within theframework of education but also in other spheres (this is recognised as an exceptional value), includingtravelling and learning from colleagues of other countries, experience sharing, and mobility betweendifferent education levels and institutions (e.g. university lecturers do the internship in school, whereasteachers work in higher education institutions, non-governmental organisations etc.). Professionaldevelopment of teachers should be pursued in partnership with various institutions: state and private,education and business etc. Any professional development should provide a possibility to reflect ownteaching practice and receive support for further activity. In their report (Teachers Matter: Attracting,Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers 2005) experts of the Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development (OECD) raise a question on whether teachers have enough knowledgeand skills to meet the needs of the current school; there are also major concerns about the limitedconnections between teacher education, professional development and school needs. According to




experts, compared to other professions, the profession of a teacher has faced minor changes, and teachersthemselves are able to reflect on what and how they should learn in order to become better teachers. Inview of this, they provide the list of qualities needed for „more effective teachers“ (based on the analysisof the scientific literature and research): professionalism: commitment to do everything possible foreach student, belief in everybody‘s ability to be effective and belief that all persons matter and deserverespect; thinking/reasoning: ability to see patterns and connections and recognise cause and effect;expectations: ability of setting and meeting challenging targets for students and the school; intellectualcuriosity and drive to act now; and leadership: ability to see the context, adapt to the needs of a situationand change tactics; ability to set clear expectations and parameters and hold others accountable forperformance; passion for learning, drive and ability to support students in their learning and to help thembecome confident and independent learners (Teachers’ Professional Development 2010).

Thus, three main competences include: the ability to work with others, the ability to manage knowledge,and the ability to work with the society and for the society.

The EU declaring common education policy principles and defining teachers‘ competences, sets forththe following recommendations for national and regional education policy-makers:

1) to ensure professionalism of teachers by creating the conditions to acquire higher educationor adequate high quality vocational training, or to acquire all the three degrees of higher education,including promotion of mobility and experience sharing.

2) to consider professional career of teachers as an integral whole: from the initial educationto lifelong learning by means of formal, non-formal or self-education;

3) to promote mobility of teachers in all stages of their professional career;

4) to promote cooperation and partnership with the institutions of various fields and sectors,as well as within the national educational institutions; to develop and participate in the activities ofinternational networks.

In order to implement the above aims it is necessary to obtain the information on the organisation of theprofessional development process in various European countries and to analyse Lithuania‘s experiencein the field of professional development compared to other countries.

The aim of the Article: to discuss certain aspects in organising professional development of pedagoguesin Lithuania within the context of European countries.

Object of the Research: organisation of professional development.

Research methodology: the research was carried out in November 2011-April 2012.

In order to analyse the current situation in organising professional development of pedagogues inLithuania and in the EU, the analysis of secondary sources was carried out and included the investigationof the scientific books and journals, the Internet data and regulatory enactments. The analysis was alsobased on the personal experience of the authors as well as on their insights acquired during theinternships abroad, during the international projects, and meetings with colleagues from the concernedforeign countries. The selected research-related information sources ensure reliability and relevance ofinformation. Professional development of Lithuanian pedagogues within the context of Europeancountries has been analysed pursuant to the information of the above sources.




2. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN EUROPE: OBLIGATION OR A FREE CHOICE?

More than 20 European countries declare that for teachers lifelong learning and professionaldevelopment is not an aspiration but a necessity. Yet, this necessity has not been instituted in all thecountries as an official/formal measure. For instance, in the Netherlands, Sweden, Island and Norwayprofessional development is subject to a free choice of teachers. In Spain, Luxembourg, Poland,Portugal, Slovenia and Slovakia there is also no obligation to upgrade qualification but continuous skillsdevelopment is directly related to the professional career, including salary increases (Teachers’Professional Development, 2010). The changes resulting from the education reform are presented (in allthe EU Member States) during the training courses, workshops or other training events organised forteachers. Professional status of teachers varies from an ordinary staff member (in Sweden, Norway, thethree Baltic States, Great Britain, Ireland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Italy), civil servant (inLuxembourg, Finland, Slovenia, Hungary) to career civil servant (in Spain, Portugal, and France, incertain regions of Poland, Germany and Belgium, in Greece, Cyprus and Malta). Teachers of Belgium,Germany, Greece, France, Spain, Portugal and other countries acquire profession for the entire life, andcan be deprived of a possibility to pursue this activity only in exceptional cases. Not all the countrieswhere teachers’ professional development (TPD) is legalised as a professional duty indicate how muchtime teachers shall spend for this activity. In the countries which provided these indicators, the minimumtime/per year allocated for TPD differs. For instance, in Cyprus primary school teachers shall spend 50hours for TPD; in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the United Kingdom and Norway – minimum 30 hoursannually; in other countries, except Belgium (French and German speaking communities) – less than 20hours. In some countries teachers have the right to use a certain amount of paid working time forprofessional development activities: in Czech Republic teachers have 12 working days for independentstudies during a school year. In Italy, in order to have a flexible school timetable, schools are allowedto suspend the learning process for several days and allocate the time for TPD activities, whereas theemployment contracts indicate that during a school year a teacher shall spend 5 days for TPD apart ofhis/her direct work (in Slovenia and Finland – 3 days, in the United Kingdom – 5 days). Teachers inPortugal are authorised to have professional development training during their working time but for nolonger than 10 hours a year when it is their own initiative. Otherwise their annual leave cannot exceed5 to 8 days. When professional development is organised during work hours the school leader shallensure availability of substitute teachers to replace teachers who are absent (in all the countries). Theabsence of substitute teachers and additional costs has negative impact on teachers‘ professionaldevelopment in all the countries.

In Lithuania teachers have 5 working days for professional development. On the one hand, this is anobligation enshrined in the Law on Education; on the other hand it is not a strict duty since time andprofessional development methods are not supervised, and professional development is not anymorerelated to the professional career. In other words, teachers are free to choose this activity.

3. ORGANISATION OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN LITHUANIA: NEEDS,METHODS AND VENUESThroughout Europe teachers face very similar professional career problems. The newly appointedteachers need the assistance of the experienced teachers and mentors in delivering a specific subject andfor work in the class. The assistance of school administration is necessary to understand the internalschool rules, norms, traditions and patterns of communication with colleagues and parents. Accordingto the data of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS, 2010), the majority of teachersusually face the following three professional career problems:




1) communication with pupils and their parents (sometimes with colleagues);

2) introduction of new subjects (e.g. general education problems) and education measures(e.g. interactive boards) and their inclusion in the teaching/subject programme (curriculum).

3) integration of children with special needs (including gifted pupils).

These problems are usually solved during consultations and teaching process through the enhancementof knowledge, development of skills and upgrading professional qualification.

Teachers’ professional development in Lithuania is an open system which is regulated exceptionally byfinancial opportunities and quality requirements. This system is a constituent part of non-formaleducation of adults defining the rights and duties of pedagogues and ensuring the assistance to schooland pedagogues.

The Law amending the Law on Education (2011) and the Concept of Teacher In-Service Training (2012)enshrine the diversity of content and forms of professional development programmes and create theconditions for the extensive professional development of pedagogues.

Provision of professional development services at national level is organised, executed and coordinatedby the Ministry of Education and Science and its authorised institutions. The Ministry of Education andScience defines priority professional development trends for school leaders and teachers; plans andallocates funds to subordinate professional development institutions; initiates preparation and executionof national professional development programmes and allocates funds for implementation of theseprogrammes.

The institutions authorised by the Ministry of Education and Science (Education Development Centre,Centre of Information Technologies in Education, Education Supply Centre etc.) are responsible forthe establishment, organisation, coordination and evaluation of a continuous learning and professionaldevelopment system.

The key institutions organising and executing professional development of pedagogues at municipallevel are education centres pursuing the needs assessment, organisation of professional developmentand requalification and creating conditions for the dissemination of best practice examples.

At municipal level the functions of organisation and execution of professional development are carriedout by other centres (the field of activity- education assistance), higher schools and their units.

Although in principle the function of a continuous professional development is decentralised, theMinistry of Education and Science still has the function to identify priorities and allocate funds.

Quality of professional development services for pedagogues is evaluated at national, regionalinstitutional (service provider) and institutional (service beneficiary) level. In order to ensure quality ofprofessional development services, programmes and institutions involved in upgrading qualification ofpedagogues shall be accredited.

According to the research/report analysis, there is still no methodology for the evaluation of changes inthe qualification of teachers after professional development activities: the only issue recognised iscertificate (a formal document obtained after participating in the process) but not professionaldevelopment (the change) which is not measured.

Usually quality of professional development services is analysed by applying a questionnaire surveyaimed to define the attitude of respondents. According to the data of the national research there is lackof inter-disciplinary training, special training and contemporary managerial trends; the programmes are




inconsistent and multidimensional nature of schools is ignored. The reports of education centres usuallyprovide reactions of the participants and assessment of the acquired knowledge, but not the usefulnessof workshops or feedback.

Pursuant to the data of the TALIS survey (Teaching and Learning International Survey) carried out byOECD, Lithuanian teachers usually upgrade qualification during non-formal meetings, training coursesand by reading professional literature (Professional Development of Lithuanian Teachers, 2010). Otherpopular activities are conferences and workshops, visits to other schools and observation of theireducation process (not common in other EU Member States). The least attention is given to cooperationwith colleagues, attending other teachers‘ lessons, learning from each other, participation in professionalorganisations and networks. Lithuanian teachers usually develop the knowledge of their own subject.This was confirmed in the SC RAIT research carried out in 2011 (Report of the research “Developmentof Teachers’ In-Service Training and Retraining”, stage 3. Joint research report, SC RAIT, 2011). Theresearch revealed the traits of individualism and possessiveness since it is assumed that „by sharing theexperience accumulated in school teachers feel like losing their superiority and value (“Report of theresearch “Development of Teachers’ In-Service Training and Retraining”, stage 3. Joint research report,SC RAIT, 2011). The issues of multicultural competence, management and administration, and pupils‘counselling are less important. The situation with respect to professional development of Lithuanianteachers seems to be very good (pursuant to the number of attendants). More than 90 percent of teachersare involved in various professional development activities. However, the intensity of involvement isless than the total average indicated in TALIS. Priorities of Lithuanian teachers also differ from thegeneral trends in other countries. For instance, the development of professional skills is very importantin the majority of countries, whereas in Lithuania it is only in the fourth place. Programmes providinghigher scientific degree are also unpopular (in the seventh place); and themes reflecting the currentchallenges (multicultural education, globalisation problems etc.) still don‘t find their place in Lithuaniaconcerned more about daily pedagogical work procedures. In general, Lithuanian teachers do not relateprofessional development to their professional career. According to them, courses, workshops or othertraining events contribute to the specific changes in a specific school. Lithuanian teachers considertraditional workshops and courses as old and „morally worn-out“ forms and do not see their practicaluse. They prefer to share the experience but want to be paid for it and are afraid of competition. Theypositively evaluate internships in Lithuania and abroad. Self-education could be meaningful only if it isformally recognised. In general teachers are critical toward organisation of professional developmentsince it is not related to specific changes in their work, whereas short-term training courses do not giveany feedback. According to the research, the factors determining successful professional developmentinclude: selection of an appropriate learning form, duration of learning, participation, orientation to thecontent of education, and alignment of education supply with the learning needs (Birman 2001).Although it is assumed that traditional professional development forms (workshops, courses) in highereducation institutions are a bit boring, professional development of teachers is mainly determined by theduration of learning rather than its form. Duration should be sufficient not only to acquire newknowledge but also to check this knowledge in practice and consider implementation of new practices.Professional development activities pursued not by single teachers but groups of teachers or even theentire school community can give better results and long-lasting affect. The alignment of learning supplywith demand also contributes to the success, since then teachers are really involved in the learningprocess: they apply the acquired knowledge and skills in their direct activity, search for information,analyse, create and pursue other activities. None of the EU Member States have a strictly defined placefor professional development of teachers. The preference is given not to one specific place or institutionbut to the quality of services. The EU Commission favours cooperation and partnership of variouseducation institutions and encourages teachers to learn from their colleagues, teachers of higher




education institutions, professional lecturers representing various organisations (even outside theframework of the education system); they are also encouraged to learn in the workplaces since herethey have most favourable conditions to analyse their work practice, the needs and opportunities,observe the work of colleagues, share experience and proposals for the improvement of professionalactivity. In the EU documents and practice there is no reference to one professional development modelas a standard model. It is recognised that each situation is exceptional, unique and requires flexibleapproach complying with the needs and expectations of pedagogues of a particular country. Lithuanianteachers want to have an opportunity to learn in school. The ones who have graduated from highereducation institutions earlier, want attend lectures of their subjects in the universities. Evaluation of theactivity of local education centres is controversial since their activity differs from region to region.

4. ORGANISATION OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN OTHER EUROPEANCOUNTRIES

Finland. In Finland every teacher has a possibility to spend 2-3 working days for a free-of-chargeprofessional development. This procedure has been approved by the teachers‘ trade union. Pursuant tothis procedure, school leaders can also require the teachers to continuously upgrade their qualification(especially the ones who are rarely involved in the professional development events) (Methods andpractises utilized to support teachers’ professional development: Current state description 2009). Ifteachers refuse to take this opportunity, school leader (in some schools) has the right to reduce salary bycutting the remuneration of 2-3 working days. According to Finish teachers, 2-3 days are too short aperiod of time; they would prefer to have more time for professional development. Since it is quiteexpensive, schools cannot allocate more funds. The Ministry of Education and the National Board ofEducation also support participation in the professional development courses, but formally professionaldevelopment of teachers is the duty of schools. During the free time teachers often take part inprofessional development courses meeting their needs and cover the costs of these courses (Tuovinen,2008). Intensity and frequency of professional development differs in more remote regions (e.g. innorthern part of the country). The main obstacles in pursuing this activity are: distance, lack of suitableprogrammes and lack of motivation.

Professional development courses are also suggested by the National Centre for ProfessionalDevelopment, municipal education centres for adults, „open“ universities, education divisions,universities and other organisations. The need for professional development is often related to newprogrammes, changes in the subject delivery and other innovations. Currently one of the most popularactivities is sharing professional experience. For instance, teachers share their daily experience withuniversity lecturers, whereas the latter share their newest research results during the joint workshops.During the above workshops they can be both, the lecturers and the ones who learn. Teachers are givena certain amount of academic credits (or academic hours) which could be used in pursuing a scientificdegree or as part of an ordinary professional development procedure.

The Statistics Department (Statistics Finland) and the National Board of Education supervise teachers‘participation in the professional development process. It is considered that teachers having acquiredmaster‘s degree and continuously developing their professional qualification are highly qualifiedteachers.

Teachers‘ professional development is organised as follows:




· Teachers take the responsibility (on a voluntary basis) for their professionaldevelopment and themselves select courses and programmes which are covered in the form of variousscholarships. The employer makes a final decision on professional development during working hours;

· Schools shall take the responsibility for the professional development of its staffmembers. Schools receive assistance from the municipal budget (about 200 EUR per teacher annually)

· The Government takes the responsibility (via the Ministry of Education and itssubordinate institutions) for the professional development of teachers, especially when it is related tointroduction of new education policy issues, programmes etc. Participation in such events is free ofcharge, but compensation of travel, accommodation and meals costs is discussed separately in each caseand is an object of negotiations with the employer (in cases when there is no central funding).Professional development programmes for teachers are elaborated at central level and for each particularschool depending on the nature and need for the programmes.

· The Advisory Board for Professional Development of Teachers prepared Ossav’sprogramme for 2010-2011 aimed to reform teachers‘ professional development in a systematic mannerand to seek quality and effectiveness. The priority is given to the education and organisationalmanagement, to teachers over 55 years of age and to the teachers who didn‘t have many opportunitiesto participate in the continuous learning during the recent years.

Finland trusts its teachers and cares about their education, but at the same time imposes very highrequirements for teachers. Therefore education of newly appointed teachers and their furtherdevelopment is considered as a very important issue. Both, teachers and their employers, trade unionsand organisers of professional development programmes are interested in the quality and effectivenessof vocational training.

Pursuant to the research of SC RAIT (“Report of the research “Development of Teachers’ In-ServiceTraining and Retraining”, stage 3. Joint research report, SC RAIT, 2011), Lithuanian teachers lackconfidence in the education system and in school as an organisation (with respect to professionaldevelopment), and are inclined to act individually and independently. Coordinated actions of teachersand schools as organisations in planning and executing professional development activities are mainlydetermined by the culture of school, its vision and understanding on how professional development ofeach person will contribute to the improvement of an organisation and vice versa – how school couldcontribute to personal and professional development of each teacher.

In the United Kingdom (hereinafter referred to as the UK), as in Finland, professional developmentof teachers is not centralised. It is pursued by various – national and private – institutions. Teachersselect the provider of professional development service referring to the reputation, professional qualitiesand competence. Central accreditation is applied only to the curricula of higher education.28 As inFinland, teachers’ trade unions are very active in the UK (e.g. the Association of School and CollegeLeaders) and are concerned about professional development of their members. In the UK it is a usualpractice to lean on the teachers-leaders or leading teachers providing professional-counselling assistanceto other teachers and school communities. Therefore quite often schools organise various professionaldevelopment courses for own teachers and for teachers of neighbouring schools.

28 Personal communication with specialists of Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT), UK (2012, 15 June)




In the UK quite a lot of attention is given to the professional development of teachers. First of all teachersneed to comply with certain standards, secondly, it is necessary to demonstrate that profession of ateacher is respected and that high requirements are imposed to this profession. At the same time it isimportant to increase the prestige of this profession and encourage community to seek the profession ofa teacher. The adopted National Strategy for Professional Development of Teachers (Ross, Hutchings,2003) also demonstrates the importance of professional development. Thanks to this strategy funding ofthe above sphere has increased and today the focus is given to the development of leadership skills inteachers, including the possibilities to fight for and take the „school leader‘s“ position. For quite a longtime teachers could take part in short-term internships in the country and abroad (note: according to thelatest information, due to the economic reasons they have less opportunities to do that). Teachersworking in socially vulnerable schools requiring more efforts have the right to have a 6-weeks vacation.Teachers also have a possibility to work in other non-educational institutions and acquire other valuableexperience.

School networking is also very popular in the United Kingdom, when several schools of one regionshare experience, learn from each other and solve relevant problems. The experienced teachers arerequired to share their experience not only with their colleagues but also with teacher educationinstitutions (they shall allocate 20 percent of their work time for this activity). This is a good measureto develop teachers‘ skills in adult education and managerial competences, and promote responsibleattitude and commitment to a wider educators‘ community.

According to the TALIS survey teachers are given 5 days per year to develop other skills not related totheir direct work (except Scotland, where 35 hours are additional to 5 days that teachers spend in schoolswithout pupils and where professional development is directly related to teachers‘ degrees and theamount of salary). Yet the possibility to develop skills during working hours is restricted, therefore themajority of teachers consider professional development as an additional burden rather than opportunity,since they have to do this job after working hours or during weekends. The most popular are continuousone day courses at the end of the academic year. Teachers themselves are interested in professionaldevelopment since this is important for employers and school community. Therefore teachers oftendevelop their skills additionally, during their free time. Although professional development is plannedafter the assessment of individual needs (the Scottish example), teachers shall take into account general„policy“, strategy and plan of the school community as well as national priorities. There are moreschools-leaders studying under master‘s programmes and selecting study themes related to theirdelivered subject (in the UK it is enough to have a bachelor’s degree to work in school).

Professional development programmes are prepared in school and serve as an integral part of the schoolcurriculum. Universities try to create flexible programmes for studies of working teachers; employersalso create conditions for studies but teachers shall cover all study costs. „Open“ universities (distancelearning) provide conditions for on-the-job learning or learning at home by coordinating various formsof studies. Teachers need more financial support for the professional development, as well as more timeand substituting teachers in order to study during working time. The most popular are programmesrelated to the delivered subjects, application of ICT, individualisation of education content, evaluation,and education of children with special needs and gifted children.

In the UK people without professional qualification or relevant background can work as teachers.Qualification is being acquired during the working process during which teachers are provided with apossibility to attend various courses, visit colleges or universities. The so called„inductive“ period is applied for newly appointed teachers. During this period they receive continuousassistance of senior teachers and mentors; e.g. during the last month of summer they take part in the




intensive training so as to be ready for work in school in September. In Lithuania there is no possibilityto work as a teacher without relevant professional qualification.

Similarly as in Finland, in Ireland profession of a teacher is considered as a respected profession(despite small wages), since „learning is still a perspective: during the recent twenty decades, despitevarious conflicts and changing economic situation, it has not lost its popularity“ (Murphy and Coolahan2003). As in many Scandinavian countries, teachers‘ trade unions are very popular and take care of theprofessional development of teachers. Yet, financial issues and organisation is centralised (at thenational level).

However, the changing society demonstrates that for teachers it is quite difficult to change in theunstable environment where traditional teacher-pupil relationship does not function anymore and whereschool and society shall find a new balance. Teachers are responsible for the adaptation of the educationcontent/forms to the changing conditions. Yet, irrespective of their professional devotion, there is stilllack of centralised and well organised support and assistance.

In Ireland there are two clearly defined concepts of professional development. The first, narrow,highlights the learning-professional development activity directed toward employment. It is aimed tosolve problems in jobs (e.g. evaluation of pupils, application of effective teaching methods in deliveringcertain subjects etc.). The second, wider, seeks to demonstrate that professional development impliesvarious related activities which help teachers enhance their individual professional skills, upgradeprofessional competences, and improve understanding of the principles of the education philosophy.According to Ireland‘s Government, the best return from the future investment to teacher education willcome from the well perceived, well planned and nationally disseminated professional developmentsystem based on the idea of a teacher‘s career. The concept of the Irish ICDP („in-career professionaldevelopment“ ) consists of the following elements:

- ICPD decision-making level (national, regional, local or school level);

- ICPD policy agents. These are the persons having the power of policy formation(e.g. the minister or governmental department, administrators or policy executors and professionals)providing advice to politicians;

- ICPD policy objectives. They consist of the key activities, e.g. needsassessment/identification, content areas, funding, organisational structure and evaluation;

- ICPD policy users. This element includes all persons participating in the teachers’professional development. These could be individuals, groups, schools, local education heads/divisionsor the entire national education system.

- ICPD policy implementation instruments. They include the establishment ofcommitments, promotions, skills and mechanisms changing the system;

However, teachers’ professional development (TPD) in Ireland is fragmented and there face difficultiesin identifying and evaluating the ongoing TPD processes. The Irish national TPD policy system consistsof the local initiatives (schools or their groups); agencies (management institutions), universities,teachers‘ centres and teacher education institutions. Ireland lacks formalised national TPD policy andmeasures. The current system based on the bottom-up principle coming from teachers and schoolsthemselves, consists of 4 main actors:

·The system of education inspectorates organising teacher training during thesummer holidays. This training is concentrated mostly on the content of programmes.




·Associations of teachers of specific subjects which at national and local levelpursue certain TPD activities. These activities are diverse in their forms (conferences,workshops, training, and lectures).

·Vocational training committees where each of the committee has its ownprofessional development (PD) unit organising professional development for teachers andschool leaders. Such activities are organised by one or several vocational training committees.

·Institutions and organisations, e.g. universities, teachers‘ centres and variousmanagement structures acting individually and together with other institutions in organisingvarious TPD activities including the update of professional knowledge, methodology, classmanagement, administration issues etc.

·Teachers themselves, who have become trainers of teachers and who provideon-the –job counselling to colleagues from own and other schools. They are also invited to teachin higher education institutions and implement the projects related to the improvement ofcontent of education.

Ireland‘s teachers take part in professional development and qualification upgrading activities on avoluntary basis and realise the importance of this activity. Although teachers have a possibility toupgrade qualification during work hours (they are substituted by other teachers; and their travel costsare also covered), however this activity is usually pursued during free time. Teachers who want to studyin higher education institutions and get a master‘s degree receive financial support.

In this context Lithuania‘s professional development system could also be considered as fragmented: itstill lacks clear priorities, structure, changes and impact assessment. Priority trends defined by theMinistry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania are not clearly communicated and arenot always in conformity with the needs of schools and teachers. Despite high supply of the professionaldevelopment with respect to forms, duration and content, teachers and schools are not eager to take partin long-lasting, continuous and work/effort consuming programmes. Popular one-day workshopsusually don’t give any results/feedback. Although teachers have a possibility to plan their professionalcareer while seeking the position of school director, deputy director, assistant to director or teacher ofother special duties, they do not relate professional development to the professional career opportunities.

In Poland TPD is divided into qualification upgrading and qualification development. Teachers’qualification upgrading is related to the formally recognised certification process in upgradingqualification (attestation). It is obligatory. Qualification development is directed toward thedevelopment of professional competences of teachers, is not related to teachers‘ attestation and is notobligatory.

The forms of TPD include:

- individual learning through distance teaching and counselling programmes.

- inter-school learning aimed to prepare the trainers of teachers and to improvequalification of teachers of certain subjects.

- assistance of local education authorities and consultations on teaching methods,strategies and teaching programmes.

Qualification development of teachers of various subjects is carried out by a teacher-counsellor. Onecounsellor is appointed for a group of 120 teachers. The pedagogical load of a counsellor is 18 hours




per week (some of these hours shall be spend for the development of teachers‘ qualification. The mainobjective of counsellors is to provide extensive assistance to teachers of specific subjects.

TPD in the country is carried out at regional and national level. At regional level services are providedby both public and private institutions organising different TPD events (workshops, counselling,conferences, courses etc.) responsible for the preparation of the individual learning material. Thenational level includes national TPD agencies subordinate to the Ministry of Education. Theseinstitutions in Poland include:

- Central Teacher Training service (Centralny Osrodek Doskonalenia Nauczycieli,CODN) responsible for the development of TPD standards and models.

- Methodological Centre of Pedagogical and Psychological Assistance (CentrumMetodyczne Pomocy Psychologiczno-Pedagogicznej).

- Centre for the Development of National Educational Programmes (Krajowy OsrodekRozwoju Programów Szkolnych) responsible for the accreditation of institutions providing TPDservices (Institutional Approaches to Teacher Education within Higher Education in Europe: CurrentModels and New Developments. Bucharest 2003).

In Greece after studies in higher education institutions the newly appointed teachers two years studythe subjects like didactics, administration of education process and management, evaluation, learningmethods and strategies etc. and only then they have the right to work as teachers (Stylianidou et all2004). Further professional development is a concern of regional teacher education centres, schooladvisors, teachers‘ associations, trade unions or workers of prefectures responsible for theenvironmental protection, education of society on health issues etc. Teachers also have a possibility toparticipate in the national or international programmes or projects. The Ministry of Education shalldefine political-strategic professional development areas and trends, coordinate the above process andcreate professional development programmes the execution of which is delegated to the accreditedorganisations; the ministry allocates funds and supervises their effective use. Thus, on the one handprofessional development of teachers is decentralised, on the other hand it is centralised; via theinstitution OEPEK (Organization for the in- service training of teachers) it coordinates and supervisesthe activity of all other teacher professional development institutions.

Although teachers in Greece have many opportunities to develop their professional skills, it is not yetclear on how they use these opportunities and what is the their impact; this is due to the lack of extensiveresearch. Trade unions are against the evaluation of teachers, therefore it is usually carried out on avoluntary basis by the initiative of certain schools, although the law does stipulate teachers’ evaluationduring certain periods: two years after commencement of the activity; later every three years (when jobrecord is under 12 years) and every four years (when job record is more than 12 years). But this is not arule for everybody. The ones seeking work in public sector, higher positions or recognition shallparticipate in the evaluation process. Teachers are evaluated by school advisors and leaders, and thelatter are evaluated by the responsible municipal workers or the education board at the prefecture level.The evaluated activities include: teachers‘ research skills, pedagogical and didactical competences,communication abilities, proactive approach and leadership. Evaluation of teachers provides for thecareer building, i.e. teachers can become school advisors or be responsible for health, environmental orother programmes, and seek positions at the municipal or prefecture level. Yet, the law as such is notfunctional. Teachers and schools are still reluctant to participate in the evaluation process. According toone of the workers of the Education Research Centre, teachers do not consider that evaluation isnecessary for their professional development and do not relate evaluation to career perspectives.




Some teachers working in the western part of Germany have the status of a civil servant and acquirea teacher‘s profession for good. Since civil servants are divided into categories, teachers are alsoattributed to certain categories defining their possibility to work in various educational institutions. Forinstance, senior civil servants work in the gymnasiums and vocational schools, whereas civil servantsof higher level work in the basic and real schools. In other parts of Germany teachers work underemployment contracts and although they do not have the status of a civil servant, teachers feel quite surefor their work and there is small possibility that their employment contract will be terminated. Such asystem has both, positive and negative aspects. On the one hand, teachers can work and be sure of clearlydefined employment guarantees, on the other hand this could make them „drowse“ or become lessmotivated with respect to continuous professional development. According to colleagues working withteachers29, even school leaders practically have no possibility to „urge“ teachers to take part in theprofessional development courses, programmes and projects since not all of them are motivated. Theexternal environment does not motivate teachers to pursue continuous learning or propose a new addedvalue expressed in the increased salary or other career opportunities. Teachers‘ rights are activelyprotected by trade unions and associations where teachers are very active. Separate lands of the countrydefine which competences are relevant for working teachers and how these competences could bedeveloped (Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers, OECD Activity CountryBackground Report for the Federal Republic of Germany, 2003). Professional development of teachersis organised at central level (outside school) and is also decentralised (school professional development).It should be noted that in Germany there is a clear distinction between professional development andcontinuous learning of teachers. The first is related to the development of the available competences,whereas the second with acquisition of new competences (e.g. a second subject, education management,administration etc.). In Lithuania teachers also study in higher education institutions in order to acquirehigher level education, receive the right to deliver other subjects or acquire managerial competences. InGermany mandatory days or hours for professional development are not defined.

5. CONCLUSIONS

Professional development models in the EU Member States vary from country to country depending onthe national situation, the needs and traditions. These models are constantly changing following thechanges in the education policy, expectations and desires of pedagogues. All the countries considerprofessional development of pedagogues as a lifelong lasting development which includes thereflections of own and other teachers‘ experiences, learning from the close and remote environment, andtakes into account processes, changes and future trends in own country, in the EU and globally. Themain objective of professional development is to improve teaching and learning skills in the classroom,to educate self-sufficient and thinking citizens able to pursue creative and successful activities.

Taking into account the number of pedagogues involved in the professional development within the EU,situation in Lithuania is quite good, but the country‘s professional development system still lacks clearpriorities, as well as a specific structure, changes and impact assessment. Long-lasting professionaldevelopment courses are not popular among the teachers. The most popular are one day/several hoursworkshops which usually do not provide any feedback.

29 Personal communication with prof. Andreas Breiter from Information Management and EducationTechnologies (Brehmeno University ( 2012, 23 August ).




Differently from pedagogues of other countries, Lithuanian teachers are not very much interested inglobal issues and are less inclined to share their experience with others or take part in the professionalnetworks. They do not relate their career to professional development.

REFERENCESConclusions of the EU Council (26 November, 2009) “On Professional Development of Teachers andSchool Heads”, official EU publication (2009/C 302/04). <http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2009:302:0006:0009:LT:PDF>

Hargreaves, A. 2008, Teaching in the Knowledge Society, Homo liber, Vilnius.

Grakauskas, Ž.& Valickas, A. 2007, Handbook for Counsellor in Developing Students’ CareerManagement Competences, Vilnius University Publishing House, Vilnius.

Rutkienė, A.& Zuzevičiūtė, V.2009, “Changes in Teachers’ Role: Inclusion of Community in Order toMake Learning More Effective”, Pedagogika, vol. 95, pp. 53-57;

Programme for Implementation of the National Lisbon Strategy, 2005, Official Gazette, 2005, No 139-5019

Lithuania Strategy of Ensuring Lifelong Learning, 2008, Official Gazette, 2008, No 122-4647

Draft National Education Strategy for 2013 - 2022 (2012), viewed 30 February 2012,<http://www.smm.lt/strategija/docs/VSS%20Seimui_2012-09-19.pdf>

Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers 2005, OECD, Paris, France.

Teachers’ Professional Development 2010, Europe in international comparison An analysis of teachers’professional development based on the OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS).Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Union

“Professional Development of Lithuanian Teachers”, 2010, Analysis of Education Problem, 2010, August,No 5 (45), viewed 30 August 2012, < http://www.smm.lt/svietimo_ bukle/analizes.htm>

Report on the results of the research of SC RAIT (“Report of the research “Development of Teachers’In-Service Training and Retraining”, stage 3. Joint research report, SC RAIT, 2011), viewed 30 August2012, <http://www.upc.smm.lt/projektai/perkva/veiklos.php>.

Birman, B.F. et all. 2000, 'What Makes Professional Development Effective? Results From a NationalSample of Teachers', American Educational Research Journal, December 21, 2001 38 pp. 915-945

Methods and practises utilized to support teachers’ professional development: Current state description2009, University of Oulu, Learning and Research Services, Finland:.

Tuovinen, J. E. 2008, 'Teacher Professionalism – Viewpoints On Best Practice, the Case of Finland',paper presented to the scientific conference AARE 2008, Brisbane, Australia.

Ross A. & Hutchings, M. 2003, Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers in the UnitedKingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, OECD Country Background Report. OECD, viewed12 September 2012, <http://www.oecd.org/education/school/2635748.pdf>

Murphy I. & Coolahan J. 2003, Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers. CountryBackground Report for Ireland., OECD, viewed 12 September 2012,<http://www.oecd.org/edu/preschoolandschool/19196740.pdf>




Institutional Approaches to Teacher Education within Higher Education in Europe: Current Modelsand New Developments 2003, Ed. by Moon, B. & Vlasceanu, L. & Barrows, L.C, Editura Enciclopedica,Bucharest, Romania, viewed 10 January, 2013, <http://www.cepes.ro/publications/pdf/teacher.pdf>

Stylianidou, F. et all. 2004. Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers. CountryBackground Report for Greece., OECD, viewed 12 September 2012,<http://www.oecd.org/edu/preschoolandschool/greece.pdf>

Teachers professional development. Europe in international comparison 2010, Luxembourg: Office forOfficial Publications of the European Union, viewed 12 September 2012,<http://ec.europa.eu/education/school-education/doc/talis/report_en.pdf>




TESTING AND EVALUATION OF A COMPUTER PROGRAM AND PLATFORM

Nanko H. Bozukov

University of Food Technologies , blvd. “Maritza” 26, 4002 Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Abstract

Information technologies are used in many areas of education, which has resulted in the creation of newteaching methods, especially computerized testing and evaluation. These technologies change the waysand methods for developing and implementing tests assessing knowledge and skills as well as formastering new knowledge. The paper describes some ideas, results and suggestions regarding thecreation of tests with a computer program and platform. It presents the program algorithm by means ofa flowchart and discusses the preparation and implementation of tests evaluating the results of students.The advantages and disadvantages of computer testing and evaluation are described.

Key words: test examination, computer еvaluation.

1. INTRODUCTION

Modern methods of training, self-tuition and evaluation are employed in every sphere of the educationalprocess through the effective application of advanced information technology.

In this paper, we put forward some ideas, results and conceptions related to the design of tests used inthe seminars on Information Technologies, based on a computer program as well as a computer platform.

The paper outlines the advantages and the drawbacks of the computer-based test examination andevaluation.

The goals we have delineated are the following:

- optimizing the knowledge acquisition process in the “Company Economics” discipline throughinformation technology assisting the existing methods of training, learning, self-tuition and evaluation;

- providing the possibility for multiple online practice of the acquired knowledge;

- enhancing the student level of performance in mastering the given subject matter;

- facilitating the process of training by making it easier for both students and the lecturers;

- increasing the levels of student motivation through transferring the research project assignment in“Information Technologies” into a familiar and friendly computer environment.

- obtaining better results in general.

2. KNOWLEDGE ASSESSMENT APPROACHES

The knowledge assessment approaches can be summarized as follows:




- the “essay” approach – The compiler is to possess knowledge and skills in the testing and the subjectiveaspect of the teacher’s evaluation is extremely important. The students’ knowledge is usually tested bymeans of an essay.

- the structuralist approach – This approach rests on the idea that learning has to do with the systematicacquisition of knowledge. It is based on comparative analysis and the necessity to determine the degreeto which the student has mastered specific definitions, concepts, components, etc. Multiple-choiceexercises belong to this approach.

- integrative approach – It presupposes knowledge testing and assessment which is performed not onisolated pieces of knowledge but on the students’ ability to apply two or more skills simultaneously.

- communicative approach – It is commonly combined with the integrative one. Both approachesemphasize the importance of meaning at the expense of form or structure. The communicative approachis, however, based on precise and detailed specifications – chemical, mathematical, computer, medical,etc. – corresponding to the students’ needs.

In order to compile successful test variants, we often need to combine these four approaches.

The tests with which we assess knowledge are grouped as subjective and objective. Subjective tests takeinto account the ability to communicate, which happens with the help of essay writing or a situation-specific conversation. Objective tests require careful variant preparation. Each test must objectivelyevaluate knowledge and not depend on the person who performs the assessment.

3. TYPES OF QUESTIONS IN THE TEST

The questions in the test can be categorized as follows:

- Questions with one or more correct answers (Multiple-Choice).

- Questions with a short answer – a word or an expression (Short Answer questions).

- Questions with a choice between true/false (True-False questions).

- Questions with pairs of correct answers.

- Questions with randomly disarranged answers (Random questions).

- Questions with numerical answers (Numerical questions with allowable Ranges).

- Questions with text paragraph answers (cloze style).

4. TEST QUESTION AND TASK DEVELOPMENT

At first, we determine the purposes and tasks of the test, then the questions and their correspondinganswers [6]. The following steps should be taken into account:

- attaining full compatibility between the questions, tasks and answers of the test and the respectivesubject matter content;

- ensuring diversity in form, structure and language of the separate questions, tasks and answers in orderto build up a positive attitude towards the test as a method of examination and evaluation;

- offering precise, clear and unequivocal formulations of all the questions, tasks and answers;




- choosing the right format, 1 point is given for identifying the correct answer, 0 points for the incorrectone.

5. EFFICIENT TEST ALGORITHM

The algorithm comprises the following major steps:

- Setting up the requirements and purposes of the test.

- Ascertaining the exact range of knowledge for evaluation.

- Drawing up the test itself.

- Deciding upon the number of points per question.

- Testing.

- Analyzing the test results.

- Test editing.

- Determining the final optimum variant of the test.

- Test quality check.

- Test submission.

- The test is ready.

6. A COMPUTER TEST PROGRAM

There is a computer test program in the subject of „Information Technologies”. In the database,controlled by the program, we have stored the following:

- students’ names and faculty numbers;

- test questions and answers;

We describe the program algorithm and the steps that follow in order to accomplish real test examinationand evaluation. In the development of the computer test program and storage of the data, as well as forthe achievement of objective evaluation of the trainees’ results, the following characteristics are met:

- the questions are equally difficult;

- to improve the security, reliability and objectivity, each trainee is presented with a different test,generated at random; test questions cannot be known in advance, because there is no one and only testbut a wide range of diverse questions in the database.

- there is only one correct answer to each question;

- one point is given for each correct answer;

- no points are given if the answer is incorrect;

- the administering of the test examination for each trainee takes one and the same length of time.




The algorithm for the computer test program applied in the subject of „Information Technologies" isdescribed by the flowchart shown in fig. 2. In the program development the program language of thescientific and technical computing system MatLab [1, 4] is employed.

After starting the program, the examinee enters his or her name and the respective faculty number.

The database loads the test questions information, examinees’ names and faculty numbers and thecorrect answer to each question. The number of the questions N is entered. A test is generated at randomwith a function of generating random numbers. On the screen only one question is displayed with thecorresponding three alternative answers out of which only one is correct. The examinee decides uponthe correct alternative and enters the respective number. The selected answer is compared with thecorrect answer from the database. In two variables n1 and n2 the relevant number of the correct andincorrect answers is stored. If, after the comparison, the answer is correct, the examinee is awarded 1point and the value of the correct answer variable n1 is increased with 1. If the answer is incorrect, theexaminee is not awarded a point and the value of the incorrect answer variable n2 is increased with 1.The examinee is supposed to answer all the questions. After the answer to the last question we retrievethe name, faculty number, date, clock time, number of the correct answers, number of the incorrectanswers and the evaluation (or the assessment mark). The evaluation is computed by means of a formulaaccording to the number of correct answers, the results of which are kept in the database.

In a separate file the entire test taking session with all variables is stored. The file can be opened,examined and printed out.

The examiners receive information about the results of the tests carried out by each trainee during theirseparate training unit preparation in the given subject area and their final test examination. The computertest program evaluates objectively the examinee’s knowledge and the gaps in it, contributes to acquiringnew knowledge, and provides the opportunity for designing interesting, motivating, reliable and efficienttests.

7. MOODLE-BASED (MODULAR OBJECT-ORIENTED DYNAMIC LEARNINGENVIRONMENT) PLATFORM TEST DEVELOPMENT FOR E-LEARNING.

The tests in MOODLE are created by the lecturers themselves in a question database. The questions canalso be imported from an external source [2, 3, 5]. The tests are stored in separate categories, which areuploaded, so as to be available on the website for every course. They can be accessed only for a stipulatedperiod of time and upon expiry of the period of duration the trainees’ access is denied. The tests can beevaluated again if the questions are altered. If the lecturer decides, the tests can be administeredrepeatedly, with an increasing level of difficulty. To avoid cheating, the questions can be randomlyretrieved with every examination.

A Moodle-based test is developed in the following sequence:

- Start Moodle.

- Log in to the course, where the respective test is due to be done.

- Click on the button “EDIT”

- Choose a line (numbered block), assigned to the test.




Fig. 2. Flowchart of the test examination program

For example, a given training course consists of 10 sections. If it is an entry test, the first block is chosen(without a number), if it is a final test –block №10 is chosen. If the block is not chosen properly, thenthe test link could be moved in another block by dragging it up or down.

- Click on “Adding a learning activity” in the chosen block Fig.1.

- Select ”Test” from the drop-down menu. A form opens for you to complete.

- Enter a test name in the space provided under ”Name” (e.g. “Test 1”, “Final Test”, etc.).




- Under “Introduction” an instruction to the students should be typed. For example: “Dear students, thisis a revision test covering some of the topics in “Information Technologies” discussed so far.”

- Setting up the test is accomplished and you can click on the button “Save changes and show”.

Fig. 1. Test design for a given course of training




On the basis of the sequence discussed above, a test in “Information Technologies” has been set up.

8. ADVANTAGES OF THE COMPUTER TESTING PROGRAM

The computer testing program thus created has the following advantages:

- all definitions, concepts and rules belonging to the topics of the subject studied are included;

- the test questions are clear, precise, unambiguous; they do not mislead or confuse the examinees;

- the students can use the tests repeatedly and self-evaluate themselves before being examined by theteacher;

- the tests generated from the database are equally difficult without being equal in form and theexaminees cannot cheat;

- assessment is subjective when students’ answers are evaluated by the computer program and theteacher does not interfere;

- the huge amount of data is quickly and readily entered, stored, browsed, identified and processed;

- it is possible to enter data, tests and evaluation related to various scientific subjects;

- each student has the same amount of time to complete the test;

- the examinees are evaluated immediately after entering the last answer;

- the results from each test are kept in a separate file which can be opened, reviewed and printed out;

- the examiner does not waste time on test creation each time he or she examines and evaluates studentsbecause test generation and assessment are automatically performed by the computer program.

9. DRAWBACKS OF THE COMPUTER TESTING PROGRAM- the computer testing program development is time-consuming;

- we need an enormous database with different exam questions;

- a separate computer is needed for each examinee so that he or she can be examined;

- the examination process is to be monitored because otherwise we will not know the actual persontaking the test or the kind of reference used in the process of its performance;

- the examiner has to know how to manage the program;

- only one question and its corresponding answers are displayed on the screen of the computer system;

- we need cooperation among the examiners and those developing the computer program, although theyare experts in different areas - in the subject area of “Information Technologies” and the field ofinformation technologies.

10. CONCLUSIONInformation technologies for test examination and evaluation contribute to:




- The improvement of the students’ level of knowledge.- The integration of traditional and modern methods of training, learning, self-tuition and evaluation;- The optimization of the process of checking and evaluating students’ knowledge and skills;- The minimization of the total number of poor results.Efficient evaluation is achievable only when a precise and impartial evaluation of the trainees’knowledge and skills is given. Thus, the lecturers are aware of the degree to which a given subject matteris mastered, which in turn helps them make appropriate decisions. Test taking is one of the evaluationmethods in e-learning. On the basis of tests, it is possible to draw the necessary conclusions as to thetrainees’ skills and knowledge. The results of a given tests indicate whether the trainee is capable ofcoping with a concrete task or answering questions about a certain topic. The results from the testexamination are directly related to its purposes. A given test could be suitable for the evaluation of aparticular topic, but completely inappropriate with other topics.The computer test program in the subject of “Information Technologies” generates tests, containingenough information about the concepts, rules and topics.When designing a test, of paramount importance is its security, which means that no mistakes should beallowed in the test itself and all possible cases of cheating on the part of those being examined shouldbe taken into consideration and prevented. Therefore, the tests are developed in a format dependent uponthe software used. The test should be different for each examinee, which makes cheating difficult. Thisis the reason why different questions are included in each test. All tests have to be equally difficult. Thetest is opened immediately before the beginning of the examination. If the test happens to be uploadedfreely on the Net, then it is accessible to everybody, and this necessitates the use of passwords, throughwhich we monitor the identity of the person opening the test and the number of times this occurs.An important feature of efficient evaluation through test taking is its sustainability, or rather, itsreliability. This means that the evaluation results would be the same if the examination test is conductedat a different time, under different circumstances and by different lecturers. In this respect, evaluationreliability means that the unbiased lecturers have to evaluate the answer of a certain trainee in one andthe same way.In electronic test design, we employ the latest information technologies.More remains to be done as to the accomplishment of the most appropriate computer test model in away that optimally uses the opportunities offered by the constant development of newer and moresophisticated information technologies.

REFERENCES

[1]. Дьяконов В.П., MATLAB 6: учебный курс, Санкт Петербург, Питер, 2001

[2]. Dougiamas, M. Moodle Online Documentation. Available at http://www.moodle.org, 2005

[3]. Smith, D. (2005). Using your Moodle. Available at: http://moodle.org/other /Using-Your-Moodle.pdf.

[4]. www.mathworks.com

[5]. www.moodle.org

[6]. www.wikipedia.org/wiki/test




CROSS-SECTORAL INTEGRATION IN KINDERGARTEN

Danijela Horvat Samardžija

University of Primorska, Faculty of Education Koper

[email protected]

Abstract

Tutorials in the course of Social studies early learning that 2nd year students have majoring in Preschooleducation have shown that students are aware of the importance of linking the areas of activity coveredin the Curriculum for kindergarten, but have shown also that students often find inadequate connectionbetween them, or overlook the connection which is more than obvious. Tutorials have also shown thatmost of the students cannot choose a fairy tale through which they could bring a social studies topiccloser to children. The observed has led to the result that students have begun to train systematically inthe search of links between areas of activities and in the selection of fairy tales, and finding afundamental messages in them.

The paper presents an example of the adequate addressing of linking areas of activity in which languagewas the base field where fairy tale was used as a baseline of treatment.

Key words: curriculum, areas of activity, areas of activity linking, fairy tale

PRE-SCHOOL CURRICULUMThe Pre-school Curriculum is a Slovenian national document that was passed by the General EducationProfessional Council of the Republic of Slovenia in 1999, and it represents a professional basis for thework in kindergartens. Every pre-school institution and every professional working in it is obliged tocarry out the educational process according to the Pre-school Curriculum. But as the national documentis not strictly structured in terms of content and is not strictly obliging, professionals in a kindergartenhave got a lot of autonomy when they plan and carry out the educational process, but at the same time,they have got even greater responsibility, as they have to use handbooks for pre-school teachers andappropriate professional literature to professionally plan and carry out every-day work with children ina kindergarten in a quality way, apart from the prescribed Pre-school Curriculum that is merely anoutline guideline for pre-school professionals.

The Pre-school Curriculum puts in the centre a child, their developmental and individual capabilitiesand special traits, and that is evident from one of the most important objectives of the curriculum. Itoriginates in the Declaration of the Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child thatgoes like this: »enabling greater individuality, being different and choice and more respect towards achild’s privacy and intimacy.«30

30 Bahovec, E. et. al. “Kurikulum za vrtce”, (1999): 5




The Pre-school Curriculum is divided in two parts. In the first part, there are, right in the beginning,presented general objectives. Those are:

1. a more open and flexible curriculum in different programmes for pre-school children,

2. a richer and more varied offer in all the field activities of the pre-school education in kindergartens,

3. a more balanced offer of different fields and activities in the pre-school education in kindergartensthat does enable deepening in certain fields at the same time,

4. a greater consideration of individuality, differences and choice that are opposite to the grouproutine,

5. setting conditions for greater expression and consciousness-raising about group differences (non-discrimination in terms of sex, social and cultural origin, a view of the world, nationality, physicaland psychological constitution),

6. a greater consideration and respect of the children’s privacy and intimacy,

7. a quality rise in mutual interactions between children and between children and adults in akindergarten,

8. the re-conceptualisation and re-organisation of the space and equipment in a kindergarten,

9. a greater autonomy and professional responsibility of the pre-school institutions and theirprofessionals,

10. making the role of evaluation (critical assessment) greater in planning life and work in akindergarten,

11. bettering the information output and collaboration with parents.

General objectives of the Pre-school Curriculum are followed by a detailed description of sixteen basicprinciples intended for realising eleven of the general objectives of the Pre-school Curriculum that haveto be taken into consideration by pre-school teachers and other pre-school professionals in their every-day work with children. These principles are:

1. the principle of democracy and pluralism,

2. the principle of the curriculum openness, autonomy and professional responsibility of the pre-school institution and its professionals,

3. the principle of equal opportunities and realisations of being different among the children and theprinciple of multiculturalism,

4. the principle of enabling choice and being different,

5. the principle of respecting privacy and intimacy,

6. the principle of balance,

7. the principle of professional basis of the curriculum,

8. the principle of the conditions of the curriculum introduction,

9. the principle of horizontal connections,




10. the principle of vertical connections or continuity,

11. the principle of collaboration with parents,

12. the principle of collaboration with the environment,

13. the principle of team planning and carrying out the pre-school education and professionaleducation,

14. the principle of critical assessment (evaluation),

15. the principle of development and process approach,

16. the principle of active learning and ensuring the possibility of verbalisation and other ways ofexpression.

Apart from general objectives and principles for realising them, there is presented the general knowledgeabout a child in a kindergarten. This knowledge deals with:

1. the development of a child in the pre-school period in predictable and chronologically definedsequences or stages,

2. learning of a child in the pre-school period, which is most successful when a child is wholly,mentally and emotionally, active,

3. spontaneous play and play as a learning method that enables faster, most of all, more lastingmemorising of the learnt, as a child is, while playing, directed towards the play itself and acquiresknowledge non-intentionally, without pressure, in a relaxed atmosphere and in an attractive form,

4. the importance of a routine for a pre-school child (arrivals to the kindergarten and departures fromthe kindergarten, eating, rest, hygiene, changing activities etc.),

5. the importance of behaviour of all the adults in the kindergarten who are a model to children bytheir behaviour in all situations and who greatly influence a child’s self-image,

6. the importance of organising a healthy, secure and pleasant room in which a child spends most oftheir day,

7. the ways of collaborating with parents that are a very important partner in every-day child’seducation.

In the second part of The Pre-school Curriculum, there are six activity fields presented. Those are:

1. physical exercise,

2. language,

3. arts (visual art, music, dance, drama),

4. society,

5. nature and

6. maths.




In each of the fields, in the introductory part, there is a short description of the field that shows how tostart planning and covering themes that would engage a child as wholly as possible, emotionally andmentally. In continuation, in each of the fields, there are written:

a) a pre-school teacher’s compulsory global objectives and objectives derived from the global ones,

b) the examples of activities and themes that are in aid of a pre-school teacher in planning and carryingout the educational work in different stages and are defined separately for the first (from 1 to 3years) and second (from 3 to 6 years) age period and

c) the role of adults that points to the role of pre-school professionals in the development of a child.

CROSS-CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS IN THE CURRICULUM

In the Pre-school Curriculum, there is a great emphasis on combining six field activities, and pre-schoolteachers who are aware of the fact that children experience the world holistically, wanting to presentsome themes as wholly as possible, take as a starting point in their work with children connecting themesor objectives from more field activities. By doing that, they are attentive to the fact when includingcertain cross-curricular connections makes sense and when it does not. We talk about cross-curricularconnections that make sense when we achieve something that we would not achieve without them or wewould not achieve it as good as with them. In the cases where cross-curricular connections areintroduced by force, we talk about cross-curricular connections that do not make sense and that diminishthe worth of the process instead of making it richer.

The importance of combining field activities can be found in one of the sixteen principles of the Pre-school Curriculum, i. e. in the principle of horizontal connections, which talks about connecting»activities of different field activities in a kindergarten, and thus, in different aspects of a child’sdevelopment and learning, as it is especially characteristic of a pre-school child that the aspects of theirdevelopment are also co-dependent and inter-connected«31 and about the choice of »those themes andmethods and techniques with pre-school children that take into consideration the specifics of a pre-school child, and thus, enable greatly the connection of different field activities in a kindergarten.«32

If we disintegrate the presented horizontal principle in smaller elements, we see that the principle talksabout five notions. Those are:

1. connecting activities in different fields,

2. a pre-school child’s development,

3. a pre-school child’s learning,

4. themes’ choices and

5. methods and techniques with pre-school children.

If we take a step further and we put together again the disintegrated whole in smaller elements, we noticethat the horizontal principle talks about cross-curricular connections, in which there are appropriately

31 Bahovec, E. et. al. “Kurikulum za vrtce”, (1999): 732 Bahovec, E. et. al. “Kurikulum za vrtce”, (1999): 8




chosen themes supported by methods and techniques that take into consideration the development andlearning of a pre-school child.

The examples of themes that we can deal with by connecting all six fields are moral development, a carefor health and traffic education. These are examples that are written in the Pre-school Curriculum, butapart from them, there are many other themes that can be covered by connecting different fields.

Searching such themes is many times difficult, especially for inexperienced students that are aware ofthe importance of connecting activity fields, but many times, they do not find them or they findinappropriate ones.

STUDENTS AND CROSS-CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS

An example of a missed obvious field is reading a literary text with the purpose of getting some societytheme closer to children. Students literally use literary texts to achieve the objectives in the society field,but they are not aware that the used literary text covered in steps by which a literary text is coveredcould or should be connected with the language field. Let us have a look to understand it easier.

In the society field, two students covered the theme of The Life of Eskimos with 4 to 5 years oldchildren.

Global objectives were: 1. The possibility to get to know different cultures.

2. Getting to know oneself and other people.

From the global objective deriving objectives were: 1. A child gets to know the life of

Eskimos.

2. A child compares the life in

Slovenia to the life of Eskimos.

They introduced the theme by reading a fairy tale Miki that was written by Stephen Mackey andthat tells about a little girl who lives in Greenland among Eskimos.

After reading the fairy tale they talked with the children about winter in Slovenia and about otherthree seasons that we know in Slovenia.

A presentation of Greenland where the little Miki lives followed the talk about seasons. In thepresentation, there were used different children’s atlases and a globe.

In continuation, the work was carried out in two stations. In the first station, they talked withchildren beside warm clothes about the Eskimo clothes. Children then pinned clothes on a cut-out cardboard little Eskimo body that would be protected from cold. In the next step, they builtan igloo out of white paper rectangles. In the second station, they were making a poster thatrepresented the life in Greenland (on one side of the poster) and the life in Slovenia (on the otherside of the poster) while talking to children beside cut-out pictures in advance.

Work in stations was followed by individual work. Children received a drawn and dressed littleEskimo Miki and they had to colour her.

In the final part, they learnt an Eskimo greeting – touching with noses.




We can see that the students presented the theme clearly to the children, but they did not notice aconnection with other fields, even though one of them is more than obvious, and that is the connectionwith the Slovenian language that we came across already in the introductory part – reading a fairy tale–, but also in continuation, in the talk about the life in Greenland, the life in Slovenia that was carriedout by the help of different books.

Searching suitable themes to make cross-curricular connections, in which we would use reading literarytexts that, as we know, among other:

- help a child »to easier overcome crises in their life« 33,

- offer a child »security, eliminating fears, existential dilemmas, learning emotions, understandingoneself and life« 33,

- help a child to learn to find joy, fulfilment in small thingsError! Bookmark not defined. such asare a wind’s whistling, waves’ sounds etc.

- educate a child, as a child learns how to get on in life through identifying with a hero, how to choosethe right path, how to react in certain situations34,

- teach a child about »culture, customs and ethics of the people and nations that developed them«33,

- aid development of imagination, enrich vocabulary and influence verbal and later written expression,develop the ability of concentration35,

- make possible values’ transfer such as are goodness, fairness, trust, help and respecting those thatare most helpless and in need of trust and understanding36,

- face a child with some problems and the way of solving those problems (e. g. a parents’ divorce,eating disorders, loneliness that the only child knows, the lack of time that they experience daily, asparents are employed all days etc.)33,

- tell a child what adults do not tell them, i. e. about taboo themes such as »love, a child worth ofloving, sexuality, a divorce of parents, being different, faith«37,

- comfort a child more than a word38,

leads students many times to make cross-curricular connections that do not make sense, as they chooseto cover a society theme by literary texts with totally wrong contents, which as a consequence leads tochildren’s not noticing a connection between a read literary text and the covered society theme. Let ashave a look at an example to understand it easier.

33 Kordigel, »Pouk literarne teorije malo drugače ali Zakaj pravljica v učni načrt za drugo triletje«, 200034 Maličev, »Kot pripovedovalka sem bolj zares z ljudmi«, 201135 Štefan, »Pravljice, ki jih mladi starši pripovedujejo, pravljice, ki jih otroci poznajo«, 201136 Isakovič, »Dan za pravljico«, 201237 Doktor, »Izberi si pravljico in povem ti, kdo si!«, 200938 Ambrožič, »Otrok in pravljica«, 2012




In the society field, students covered the theme of The words thank you and please with 2 and 3years old children.

Global objectives were: 1. A child learns that all the people in a certain society have to help

and collaborate, so that the society can function and enable survival,

well-being and comfort.

2. A child learns rules in a group and in a kindergarten on the

basis of understanding the reasons for them.

From the global objective deriving objectives were: 1. A child learns about living

beings and their environments.

2. A child learns that living beings

communicate with each other.

They introduced the theme by narrating a fairy tale Godrnjava pikapolonica (A grudgingladybird). After they finished narrating, they talked with the children how to use the words thankyou and please.

In the next step, they put home-made ladybirds around children’s heads by the help of pre-schoolteachers and they all together danced to the chant Pikapolonica (A ladybird).

In continuation, they distributed black and red spots to children, and thus, they divided them intwo groups. One group coloured a ladybird by coloured pencils, another group cut out parts of aladybird from coloured paper and pasted them on a white A 3 drawing paper (a head, antennae,wings, spots).

In the final part, together with children they hung ladybirds that they made in the playing room.

We can see that the students used a fairy tale in which the words thank you and please happen tobe to cover the theme of The words thank you and please. Namely, the fairy tale tells about aladybird that was angry and she was looking for someone to fight with, and in that way, it ventedits anger. While looking for a suitable opponent, as the ladybird met a different opponent eachhour, the children learnt about numbers.

Apart from choosing an unsuitable fairy tale, in the lesson plan, there is also well evident anunsuitable cross-curricular connection deriving from the written objectives. Namely, the studentsdedicated a big proportion of the lesson to the nature field while covering the society theme, andthat was not the purpose of their class in a kindergarten, as they made the society theme lessprominent by doing that.

Described difficulties noticed with the students led to changes in the way of working with them. Wedirected the work towards practising finding connections between field activities and choosing literarytexts and eliciting basic messages from them. We did it, so that:

- we played a game entitled Let’s play a kindergarten in practical classes with the students,

- the students had homework in which they had to present which literary texts they would choose tocover some society theme.




The play Let’s play a kindergarten went on so that the students in small groups prepared a lesson planfor a chosen society theme. In getting ready the lesson plan that had to contain all the necessary elementsthey had to take care that they had as a starting point a literary text that they chose on the basis of thetheme. All the groups presented ready lesson plans in such a way that they enacted the content of thelesson plan. One in the group was a pre-school teacher, another one was their assistant, the rest of themwere children of the chosen age. While one group was acting, the other groups observed acting and laterthey also analysed it by questions defined in advance for easier observing.

The homework that they had for a whole semester was for the students to go to the library, to thedepartment for young learners, and to find literary texts for the society themes that they themselveschose. They regularly presented their homework in practical classes, and they did it in such a way thatthey read to the colleagues the summary of the chosen literary text, and the colleagues had to tellcovering of which of the society themes they would use the text for. When they told their suggestions,the student that presented the literary text told about their choice of the society theme and supportedtheir choice by the help of objectives that they found in the Pre-school Curriculum.

In the continuation of this paper, there is presented an example of a cross-curricular connection thatmakes sense and in which the starting point is the language field in which there was used the coverageof a literary text. The purpose of the cross-curricular connection that was carried out with children agedfive to six years was to show how important it is to support the chosen theme by the methods andtechniques that involve a child holistically, mentally and emotionally, in the process itself and howimportant it is to have in front of our eyes all the objectives that we want to achieve by different activitiesin a certain field. To that purpose, the presentation of the fields and objectives – taken from the Pre-school Curriculum –, that were realised within individual filed will follow the description of individualsteps of the coverage of the society theme How do we get bread.

EXAMPLE OF CONNECTING ALL SIX FIELDS BY THE AID OF A LITERARY TEXT

I made children to sit in a Turkish way on the floor in a semi-circle in the station that was intended forour work together, so that they all saw me well, as in continuation, I was telling them about a shortliterary text by the author Tomaž Lapajne entitled Od kod si, kruhek (Where do you come from, a littlebread) by using pictures that I copied from the book on a bigger format and plasticified and one afterthe other pinned to a big board with a background (the pictures of wheat, flour, mill, combine, differentsorts and forms of bread, bakery, rising dough) appropriate to the fairy tale by the help of the puppetnamed Ana in my hand.

The starting point of coverage of the theme How do we get bread is, as we see, the language fieldin which the realised objectives were: 1. A child experiences comfort, joy, fun with a book, theyconnect aesthetic and physical comfort and acquire a positive attitude towards literature. 2. Achild identifies themselves with the character from the book and experiences action in the book.3. A child listens to the language in every-day communication and is involved in communicationalprocesses with children and adults (non-verbal and verbal communication, culturalcommunication, communicational styles, politeness).39

39 Bahovec, E. et. al. “Kurikulum za vrtce”, (1999): 19




After telling about the literary text, I talked with the children about the content of the fairy tale by thehelp of pictures that I pinned on a big board while narrating and asking short questions prepared inadvance and in detail, and by that the procedure of getting bread, but in reversal, the procedure from thefinal product, bread, to the wheat, a plant that is necessary to get it.

When talking about the content of the fairy tale that we read, the starting point was the languagefield again. When we summarised the text, there was present the nature field, as the childrenlearnt about the procedure of producing bread, and the society field, as the literary text presentsthe importance of collaboration between different people, so that a final product is made. Thelanguage field objectives were: 1. A child gets to know a word, a book as the source ofinformation. 2. A child listens to the language in every-day communication and is involved incommunicational processes with children and adults (non-verbal and verbal communication,cultural communication, communicational styles, politeness). 3. A child learns to narrateindependently. 4. A child develops the language capability in different functions and situations inevery-day activities and in different social situations. 5. A child develops the language on alllinguistic levels (from the phonological and morphological to the syntactical and semantical). 6.A child expresses themselves creatively in the language. The nature field objective was: 1. A childdevelops the sense of when and what happened and the sequence of actions. The society fieldobjectives were: 1. A child learns that all the people in a certain society have to help andcollaborate, so that it can function and enable survival, well-being and comfort. 2. A child learnsabout professions. 3. A child develops the interest and satisfaction when they are discovering thewider world out of their home town.40

Namely, in the fairy tale the little girl called Ana finds a ring in bread, and as she wishes to find itsowner, she goes to a shop, as she thinks, as all the small children do, that bread is produced in a shop,as parents bring it from there home. The shop assistant who sells all other dough goodies apart frombread tells to the little girl Ana that he did not lose the ring. He sells in the shop the bread that is alreadybaked and his ring could not be found in it at all. The little girl Ana goes to the baker who transformsthe dough with his all ten fingers in tasty bread, but the baker tells her that he did not lose the ring whilehe was preparing and baking bread and he tells her to go to the mill worker who grinds wheat into flour.The mill worker tells her that he did not lose the ring. The little girl Ana is left with the visit to the farmerwho on a farm plants a seed from which wheat grows. The farmer who produces wheat, which is animportant ingredient for making bread, does this on a farm by a lot of effort and work, and he tells herhappily that the ring is his.

A short summary of the read literary text for easier representation in the continuing coveragefollows.

After the literary text was summarised, I asked the children if they knew to tell how we get bread fromwheat. I put in front of them pictures which represent the farmer’s work, the mill worker’s work, the

40 Bahovec, E. et. al. “Kurikulum za vrtce”, (1999): 19, 20, 33, 34, 38




baker’s work and the shop assistant’s work, and I asked them to put them in the right order. Whenchildren put the pictures, as they thought it was right, and it was really right, we also described thepictures.

In putting four pictures in the right order, the starting point was the nature field, as the childrenobserved the procedure of making bread, but there was present the field of maths at the sametime, as the children had to put the observed pictures in the right order. The nature field objectivewas: 1. A child develops the sense of when and what happened and the sequence of actions. Themaths field objective was: 1. A child classifies and distributes.41

The set of pictures that the children came up with was compared to the set of pictures on the big boardand it was found out that the pictures on the big board were reversed, in the opposite direction. Idistributed to the children another set of pictures, i. e. four pictures from the literary text (pictures thatshow the little girl Ana at the shop, in the bakery, in the mill and on the farm), and I asked them todescribe the four pictures and to put them in the right order above the order of the pictures that we setin advance and which represent how we get bread.

The comparison of orders had as a starting point the maths field, as the children put the picturesin the right order, but there was present the nature field and the language field, as the childrendescribed the procedure of making bread in their own words. The maths field objectives were: 1.A child classifies and distributes. 2. A child uses the expressions for describing the positions ofobjects (above, beneath, left, right …). The nature field objective was: 1. A child develops thesense of when and what happened and the sequence of actions. The language field objectiveswere: 1. A child develops the language capability in different functions and situations in every-day activities and in different social situations. 2. A child develops the language on all linguisticlevels (from the phonological and morphological to the syntactical and semantical). 3. A childlearns to narrate independently. 4. A child expresses themselves creatively in the language.

I asked the children what they noticed. They found out that the little girl Ana in the book also learnt howwe get bread. When they found out that, I opened the book on the last page on which there was writtena recipe. I read the recipe to the children and I asked them what I read a while ago. The children told methat it was how we make bread.

Learning about a recipe to make bread belonged to the language field. The objective of thisactivity was: 1. A child listens to different literary genres and learns about the differences andsimilarities between them.42

41 Bahovec, E. et. al. “Kurikulum za vrtce”, (1999): 19, 20, 38, 4542 Bahovec, E. et. al. “Kurikulum za vrtce”, (1999): 20




I suggested to them to make their own bread. The children agreed immediately. Before we started ourwork, we created our own recipe. We did it in such a way that I read to the children once more theingredients that they need to make bread, and they wrote them and drew them on a poster.

In the making of the poster, there were included the following fields: the art field (visual art) (achild cuts pictures and pastes them on a poster, a child draws on a poster), the language field (achild verbalises what they do during the making of a poster, a child writes short words), the mathsfield (a child counts the ingredients that they drew/pasted/wrote on the poster) and the naturefield (a child presents the procedure of producing bread with pictures that they pasted on theposter in the appropriate order). The art field objectives were: 1. A child uses and develops skills.2. Encouraging a child’s creativity. 3. Developing spatial senses. The language field objectiveswere: 1. A child listens to the language in every-day communication and is involved incommunicational processes with children and adults (non-verbal and verbal communication,cultural communication, communicational styles, politeness). 2. A child develops the languagecapability in different functions and situations in every-day activities and in different socialsituations. 3. A child develops the language on all linguistic levels (from the phonological andmorphological to the syntactical and semantical). 4. A child expresses themselves creatively inthe language. 5. A child develops pre-reading and pre-writing abilities and skills. The maths fieldobjectives were: 1. A child uses the names of numbers. 2. A child classifies and distributes. 3. Achild uses symbols, they write actions by symbols and describe a state. The nature field objectivewas: 1. A child learns about a working process and develops an appropriate attitude towardswork.43

Bread-baking followed. We first washed our hands, put on aprons and caps and started work. I myselfstarted preparing the dough, as the children said that they do not know how to do it and they wouldrather read to me our recipe, so that I do not forget any of the ingredients. When the dough was made, Idivided it into one bigger piece and 20 even small pieces that I offered to the children. Out of the biggerpiece I made big bread. Out of the small pieces the children, when they sat at the tables, made their ownbread or we called them rolls, as they were little breads. We marked the rolls by little flags on which wewrote the names of the children and put them on a special plate and took to the kitchen where the cookput them in the oven.

Bread-baking included the nature field (we baked bread according to the set recipe), the languagefield (we were all the time describing what we were doing), the art field (visual art) (the childrenwere making their little bread or roll), the physical exercise field (the bread-baking preparationitself). The nature field objectives were: 1. A child discovers and learns how entities mix and howthey change their characteristics. 2. A child learns about a working process and develops anappropriate attitude towards work. The language field objectives were: 1. A child listens to thelanguage in every-day communication and is involved in communicational processes withchildren and adults (non-verbal and verbal communication, cultural communication,communicational styles, politeness). 2. A child develops the language capability in different

43 Bahovec, E. et. al. “Kurikulum za vrtce”, (1999): 20, 24, 39, 44, 45




functions and situations in every-day activities and in different social situations. 3. A childdevelops the language on all linguistic levels (from the phonological and morphological to thesyntactical and semantical). 4. A child expresses themselves creatively in the language. The artfield objectives were: 1. A child uses and develops skills. 2. Encouraging a child’s creativity. Thephysical activity objective was: 1. Getting to know the basic principles of the personal hygiene.44

While the bread was being baked, we played a game called Is bread already baked that the childrenlearnt from the grandmother of one of the children in the group.

With the game Is bread already baked we included the society field and the physical exercisefield. The society field objectives were: 1. A child has got a possibility to develop the abilities andways of establishing, sustaining and enjoying friendly relationships with one or more children(that includes problem solving, negotiating and coming to an agreement, understanding andaccepting view-points, behaviours and feelings of others, politeness in mutual communicationetc.). 2. A child gets to know gradually a wider society and culture. The physical activity objectivewas: 1. Introducing children in the games in which they need to obey rules.45

The social game was followed by the work in stations. In one of the stations, the children were scanningthe literary texts that were telling about bread, its making etc. 46 , in the second station, the childrenwatched a video on making bread online47, in the third station, the children were making a poster aboutproducing bread.

The station activities included the following fields: the language field, the art field (music, visualart) and the nature field. The language field objectives was: 1. A child gets to know a word, abook as the source of information. The art field objectives were: 1. A child uses and developsskills. 2. Encouraging a child’s creativity. 3. Developing spatial senses. The nature fieldobjectives were: 1. A child discovers and learns how entities mix and how they change theircharacteristics. 2. A child learns about a working process and develops an appropriate attitudetowards work. 3. A child develops the sense of when and what happened and the sequence ofactions.48

44 Bahovec, E. et. al. “Kurikulum za vrtce”, (1999): 15, 19, 20, 3945 Bahovec, E. et. al. “Kurikulum za vrtce”, (1999): 15, 33, 3446 Literary texts used in the station: Od kod si, kruhek (Where do you come from, a little bread?) (Lapajne T.), Kruhek je šelpo svetu (A little bread went to travel the world) (Jamnik Pocajt T.), Rdeča kokoška (A red chicken) (Timmers L.), PekarnaMiš Maš (The Mouse Mash bakery) (Makarovič S.), Kmet in trije peki (A farmer and three bakers) (Podgoršek M.), Lonček,kuhaj (A little pot, cook) (a folk fairy tale)47 Literary texts used in the station: Od kod si, kruhek (Where do you come from, a little bread?) (Lapajne T.), Kruhek je šelpo svetu (A little bread went to travel the world) (Jamnik Pocajt T.), Rdeča kokoška (A red chicken) (Timmers L.), PekarnaMiš Maš (The Mouse Mash bakery) (Makarovič S.), Kmet in trije peki (A farmer and three bakers) (Podgoršek M.), Lonček,kuhaj (A little pot, cook) (a folk fairy tale)48 Bahovec, E. et. al. “Kurikulum za vrtce”, (1999): 20, 24, 39




When the rolls and bread were baked, we tried them or we tried bread, as the children decided to takerolls home and eat them together with their parents.

By tasting the baked bread, the children reached the following society field objective: 1. A childacquires good, but not rigid eating habits and they develop sociability connected to eating.49

To finish off, we danced to a chant Ob bistrem potoku je mlin (There is a mill by the clear stream) thatwe listened to during the station work.

With the dance we included the physical exercise field and the art field (music, dance). Thephysical exercise objective was: 1. Acquiring the basic elements of folk chants and other dancegames. The art field objective was: 1. Encouraging a child’s creativity.50

CONCLUSION

A pre-school teacher has got a difficult task each time they enter the room in which the children eagerto get attention, play and knowledge are waiting for them, and they are testing on a daily basis the limitsa pre-school teacher sets them. That is why it is extremely important that a pre-school teacher, especiallyan inexperienced student, continually educate themselves independently by reading differentprofessional literature in which they find answers to the questions connected to:

- planning and carrying out cross-curricular connections, the ones that make sense and the ones thatdo not (the ones that make sense as a model, and the ones that do not make sense to recognise andeliminate mistakes that they make),

- knowing the development of a pre-school child and bearing that in mind when organising theeducational process,

- using the most appropriate methods of teaching differently aged pre-school children,

- knowing different methods and techniques when teaching pre-school children,

- really good theoretical knowledge of the themes to be taught to children etc.

The wider the range of knowledge that a pre-school teacher possesses, the easier will be their every-daywork with children, as they will know how to respond to children, their needs, wishes, special traits etc.

The cross-curricular connection presented in this paper was designed on the basis of:

- knowing the Pre-school Curriculum, i. e. on the basis of knowing general objectives and principles,as they represent the basis of knowing the individual field activities and global objectives and theobjectives derived from the global ones that are written within the individual field,

49 Bahovec, E. et. al. “Kurikulum za vrtce”, (1999): 3450 Bahovec, E. et. al. “Kurikulum za vrtce”, (1999): 15, 24




- knowing different theories on the brain functioning that tell that the brain works best when it connectsthe acquired information in some whole,

- the knowledge of the importance of a child’s holistic, mental and emotional, active involvement inthe learning process,

- the knowledge of the law of transfer of the known to the unknown,

- the knowledge of the importance of the fairy tale in a child’s life.

The presented knowledge that was important in designing a quality cross-curricular connection wasacquired on the basis of independent education with a desire to learn as much as possible, so that thework with children will be easier, more pleasant, more successful for them as for me. Without studyingthe professional literature the cross-curricular connection that was carried out would not be carried outthat professionally, as it was.

That it is why it is extremely important that students, future pre-school teachers, get aware of theimportance of continual professional education. Sometimes it is best to do it by the help of the lecturer’sown model, as students see as a model first the one who is teaching them in the lecture room. And if theone who teaches them something specific can concretely show and prove what they are talking about, itis a big privilege for students, as they prevent students to make some mistakes.

REFERENCES

1. Ambrož, B 2012: Otrok in pravljica, viewed 28 February 2012, <http://zs-iskrica.si/mambo/content/view/33/49/>

2. Annual preparation for the subject Social Studies Early Learning in the second year of earlychildhood education of 2011/2012 - from the school archive of Danijela Horvat Samardžija

3. Annual preparation for the subject Social Studies Early Learning in the second year of earlychildhood education of 2012/2013 - from the school archive of Danijela Horvat Samardžija

4. Annual preparation for the subject Society in the 4th Class of 2008/2009 - from the school archiveof Danijela Horvat

5. Bahovec, E et al., 1999, Kurikulum za vrtce. Ministrstvo za šolstvo, znanost in šport, Zavod RS zašolstvo, Ljubljana.

6. Daily preparations for the subject Social Studies Early Learning in the second year of earlychildhood education of 2011/2012 - from the school archive of Danijela Horvat Samardžija

7. Daily preparations for the subject Social Studies Early Learning in the second year of earlychildhood education of 2012/2013 - from the school archive of Danijela Horvat Samardžija

8. Daily preparations for the subject Society in the 4th Class of 2008/2009 - from the school archiveof Danijela Horvat

9. Doktor 2012: Izberi si pravljico in povem ti, kdo si!, viewed 21 March 2012,<http://www.google.si/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=pravljica%20je%20...&source=web&cd=31&ved=0CB4QFjAAOB4&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbibaleze.si%2Fbin%2Farticle_print.php%3Farticle_id%3D3165119%26section_id%3D%26site%3D&ei=CutpT8zMIMqg4gSg0-yDCQ&usg=AFQjCNHfmegY9q1aEL0Hzc6BgurnK-qFcg>




10. Isakovič, N 2012: Dan za pravljico, viewed 23 July 2012,<http://www.google.si/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CFIQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zupca.net%2Fdnevna_soba%2Fpravljice%2Fmami_pravljico.htm&ei=KowNUPrqI8jfsgbnjryiDw&usg=AFQjCNHa8rzHrKjkMgDmdxFKCY_mUBrusQ>

11. Kordigel, M 2000, »Pouk literarne teorije malo drugače ali Zakaj pravljica v učni načrt za drugotriletje«, Jezik in slovstvo, vol. 45, no 3, pp.

12. Maličev, P 2012: Kot pripovedovalka sem bolj zares z ljudmi, viewed 12 July 2012,<http://www.delo.si/clanek/144796>

13. Štefan, A 2012: Pravljice, ki jih mladi starši pripovedujejo, pravljice, ki jih otroci poznajo, viewed12 July 2012, <http://videolectures.net/ssjlk2011_stefan_pravljice/>




INTERPRETATIVE OPERATIONS FOR TEXTUAL COMPREHENSION:

CASE STUDY OF THAI UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGESunporn Eiammongkhonsakun

French Section of Western Languages Faculty of Humanities

Srinakharinwirot University 114 Sukhumvit 23 Wattana 10110

Bangkok, Thailand

AbstractThe main purpose of this research is to survey the interpretative operations for French comprehension.After reading a short text, the students sampled explained the activities they realized in the course ofreading. They also were asked to justify them. With the retrospective reformulation of their reflections,we can learn their level of metacognitive competencies and better determine how they can maintain orimprove them. The results of the research outline the strong and weak points of the students, not only intheir capacity to comprehend texts, but also, in their ability and competence to justify answers and togive opinions. This latter practice is not frequent in Thailand, as in other part of the World, despite itsimportance to the learning process. It is the opinion of the author that metacognition is a defining factortowards gaining learning autonomy, and this, in all facets of learning situations and processes. Theprotagonists should therefore take it fully into account in order to better prepare the strategic learnersof tomorrow.

Keywords: comprehension processes, comprehension, reading, metacognition, interpretation

1. INTRODUCTION

“First, let’s clarify one thing: reading is understanding. Someonewho does not understand, does not read.”

If comprehension is the desired result of the reading activity, a core quality of any reader is the abilityto understand. The nature of the comprehension process is neither spontaneous nor innate. The abilitydevelops over time with the gradual use of “good” strategic learning practices.

Many parameters enter into play such as the reading objectives, the textual components, thecharacteristics of the readers, the object of the text, the level of difficulty of the text, etc. Consequently,in order to train good strategic “readers”, it is imperative to vary the exercises and the reading situationsthey face because always using the same strategies for always similar reading situations can bring badhabits and complacency. In other words, instead of having to think about the different parametersnecessary for the interpretive processes, the readers will only use the same unchanging approach overand over. Creating such a habit is not the best way to improve one’s learning capacity, and thereforeunderstanding, in the long run.




My previous research of the school system in Thailand demonstrates the creation of such a habit intraining for reading. During the first primary school years (Prathom 1 to 3, equivalent to grades 1 to 3),children in all of the public schools must use the schoolbooks chosen by the Department of Education.These impose exercises emphasizing repetition: the students are asked to read out loud the wordsconsidered new, and then read the text in its entirety and, finally, they must answer a series of questions.

The texts are narratives and most of the questions follow the same formulas: “who does what, how,when, why, and where?” This form of schoolwork is repeated during the three successive school yearsbut also, with some nuances depending on the evolution of the competencies of the learners, during thefollowing years until the end of secondary school (Matthayom 6 or grade 12). With this repetitiveapproach, the students are trained in using one sole approach, becoming habitual, for textual treatment.They do not think to employ other strategies as they are continuously compelled to use a strategy thatmay not be appropriate to other reading situations or contexts.

2. READING – COMPREHENSION

I will now try to delineate an interpretive process. In order to do so, I will adapt the views of F. Verreaultand M. Pelletier who share U. Eco’s conception on the subject. The reading situation is divided intothree phases. The first, the impregnation phase, comprises the manner with which the text is approachedin order to establish a dialogic rapport and allow the reader to prepare for the use of all perceptioncapabilities. It is also the moment for the reader to analyze all the contextual conditions and thesignificant parameters for the selection of an interpretation strategy.

The second phase is the creative exploration. During it, the reader will employ his previous knowledgeand acquired skills to select those competencies that are useful to the situation at hand. The third phase,the synthesis, consists of assembling and ordering the ideas and notions towards significant points ofconvergence. The reader therefore goes from the representation tools to a global understanding.

In summary, during the interpretive process, and using the various available tools, the reader constructsa set of representations, which disappear once the work has been completed. The reader will forget thelinguistic information, to go through a further deepening, a widening, of the content understanding. Thereader will pull himself out of the closed words and sentences comprehension (most of which he forgetsquickly) to a more general and global understanding.

3. LINK BETWEEN COMPRENHENSION AND INTERPRETATION

I share E. Falardeau’s view pertaining to the concepts of comprehension and interpretation, tworelatively close notions. This author conceives the relationship between the two concepts thusly:

“The sense, the meaning, constructed by comprehension and significationcoming from interpretation are feeding off one to the other.”

This explanation demonstrates the close relationship between the two activities. The meaning is anintegral part of the text, signification is an external part. The latter is created by the reader-interprettrying to create new symbols from those he perceives within the text. Interpretation is therefore a processleading towards comprehension.




These two mental activities are complementary to one another. As E. Falardeau does, I believe thatduring an interpretive reading, both comprehension and interpretation are being conducted at the sametime. In other words, the reader first understands the linguistic signs and the organisation of the text. Forexample, he is able to identify the language used, to recognize the grammatical rules and their functionsin the text, to survey the structure of the text and so forth. The reader must employ a variety of skillsand notions such as the stereotypical, lexical, syntactical, historical, sociocultural, experimentalknowledge. The reader therefore uses the text to create mental images but these images are not yet placedinto a whole context. In fact, they solely remain a series of images stacked one upon the other.

Consequently, in aiming to obtain a finer understanding, we must make use of interpretive operations,the results of which is significant. We must stress that the view of the interpreter is no more globalizingthan that of the reader through in understanding process. It comes from outside of the text (mentalimagery) and uses recurring possibilities that may enlighten the whole of the text. In other words,comprehending a text is to give signification, to presume that it means this or that. Interpretation is theperception of the subject-reader about an object-text. The interpreter concentrates himself on thoseelements most interesting or most significant to him in order to create a meaning that is most personal.

Significance does not necessarily come out of the text but it is inspired by it in an explicit manner. Thetext is therefore aimed at a subjective reader, in his own personal universe, but also at a collective ofreaders, each with his own personal universe. After all his actions, the reader assigns a meaning to thetext, in other word, he synthetises his understanding. In many cases, the meaning, obscured by the wordsand sentences, comes from a socially acceptable consensus.

4. CONSTITUTIVE PARAMETERS OF INTERPRETATIONUsing U. Eco’s views, I will now examine three factors that can influence interpretive operations. Thefirst parameter touches the characteristics of the document: the components of the text, for example, thelanguage used in the text, its theme, its length, its structure, and so forth. The second factor, thecharacteristics of the reader examines, among others, the previous knowledge, the linguisticscompetencies, the interests, and the objectives of the person reading the text. Interpretation is thereforeclosely linked to the life of the reader: his social and cultural experience, his knowledge, his emotions,his tastes, etc. Lastly, the intention of the author within the message or the text is presented in a more orless explicit manner, depending on written style as well as the type of text. The more an author explainsexplicitly his meaning, the easier it is for the reader decides how to best interpret the text.

Logically, if we want the reader’s interpretation to correspond to the message that the author wanted toconvey, both protagonists must share the same level of competency and the same knowledge.Nevertheless, because the writer is not present while the reading is going on, there is no certainty as tothe quality of the understanding. The interpretation remains the most plausible hypothesis available.There are no true or false interpretations. Rather, they either are plausible or implausible, superficial ordiscerning. This gives an undetermined quality to the interpretation, which compels us to pursue thestudy further.

The act of interpreting follows five characteristics. The first is plurality, an esthetic dimension oftransitory nature. The interpretation depends on the subjectivity of the individual. Interpretive operationsare realized through cognitive processes. They are done from within the individual but aim atunderstanding the outside world. Furthermore, interpretation implies a mediated relationship betweenauthor, reader, the mediator (the text) and the goal of the reading. We endeavor to understand themessages transmitted by another and, potentially, to transmit them to others. Interpretation is a social




activity but closely linked to the deep individual self. Indeed, the reader exists within a community,which has conditioned him to its ideology or set of beliefs. Those socially accepted stereotypes are whatcompose the cultural background. Comprehension is therefore socially conditioned; it is not only anindependent process. Finally, interpretation implies a search for meaning out of a heterogeneouscomposite and a linear format resulting in a non-linear construct, the mental images.

Understanding is the creation of mental representations, of mental images. In other words, it is thecapacity of representing concepts and ideas through thoughts. To create those mental images, we needthe interaction of two types of thought processes, so says J.P. Guildford, the American psychologist.The first is the “divergent thinking” which is the capacity to generate a multitude of ideas going intomultiple directions. The other is the “convergent thinking” which is the capacity to select and to orderthe ideas depending on the precise goal set. This interaction is done within a cultural and historicalcontext unique to each individual. This explains why people of different cultures have different viewsand interpretations of a same text.

5. OBJECTIVES AND ANALYSIS OF THE DATAThe objective of this study was to examine the interpretive operations necessary to understand a textwritten in the French language. This led me to examine the learners’ knowledge level necessary fortextual comprehension. The Thai university students of French examined in the present study have alevel of understanding that is not limited to literal understanding. They should be able to perceive theimplicit messages, signals, transmitted through the text. Indeed, these students are considered“independent” under the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). In theshort space allowed me here, I will concern myself only with their interpretive operations.

The subjects studied had to read a certain number of texts then, to answer a series of questions pertainingto their reflections and interpretive operations. Considering the number of past practical exercises theyhad done, I made the assumption that those students had acquired the necessary metacognitivecompetencies and knowledge to be able to explain and justify the activities they realized during theinterpretive operations. They should notably be able to remember the steps they accomplished in orderto understand the texts. From there, using U. Eco’s concepts, I will organize the interpretive operationsin three successive phases: impregnation, exploration and synthesis.

6. ANALYSIS RESULTS

6.1 Interpretation constitutive parameters

I will explain the constitutive parameters of interpretation within the context of the present study. Let’sstart by the texts characteristics. The students read a series of text in the French language that each hada title, a given source and illustrations such as diagrams and images. Generally, the length of the textswas between a hundred to a hundred and fifty words. As for the subject matter, it was also diversified:from everyday life issues to French work related laws.

Most of the subject matters remained within French culture of which the students had some previousknowledge. These documents were written texts whose content was not to be extremely difficult for thestudents. The texts were authentic document whose content was not initially intended for a foreignreadership. Consequently, the language and the style used remained natural and similar to what French




readers face on a daily basis, the product having not been created for foreigners in mind. It will thereforebe possible to evaluate the competence of the Thai students in relation to their French counterparts.

Concerning the characteristics of the reader, it must be stressed that French is but a second foreignlanguage, after English, for the students being examined. I believe that some competencies andknowledge can be transferred from the first foreign language as well as from the mother tongue to thecompetency in French of the students. Such transfers can be positive if such information and activitiesare adaptable to the language being studied. Nevertheless, because of the wide differences betweenlanguage systems, from Thai to French, certain acquired reflexes and operations can be inefficient or oflittle use for comprehension in the new language.

At their level of schooling, the students have enough knowledge of French to be able to understandmessages transmitted implicitly such as inferential understanding. Nevertheless, when faced withproverbs and uncommon sayings, the students may be taken aback and unable to understand quickly.The understanding of the context as well as the search for definitions and other information can mostprobably help in tackling these difficulties.

6.2 Interpretive Operation

After reading the texts, the students explained what their activities had been, most of which were similarfrom one text to the other despite their variety. This can be explained by the ingrained youth habits, foractivities made in the course of reading, of Thai language students. The students were indeed trained touse specific and identical strategies at school. In reality, in Thailand, all the schools must employ thesame national curriculum, explained in the introduction, during the time indicated by the Ministry ofEducation. Despite this, I attempted to classify the recorded activities using three sequential steps.

6.2.1 Impregnation

This first step’s goal is to prepare oneself for the interpretive operations. It is the moment the readerplans the reading process, a metacognitive competency.

The students observe the text’s macrostructure such as its length and its “paratextual” elementscomprising illustrations, title and source. Then, some students planned how to proceed with the work.The observation period allowed them to estimate the time necessary for the reading, the efforts necessaryto complete every part of the text. Some students therefore showed metacognitive skills in recognizingtheir own state of mind concerning the reading to be done. Here are their explanations:

· “I know my weak spot while reading. I get easily distracted by other more enticing things whichcan stop me wanting to pursue reading.”

· “Before reading, I like to empty my mind in order to better concentrate on the interpretiveoperations to be achieved.”

On top of the introductory observation of the texts, and because many students are anxious when facingforeign language documents, assuming they will face great difficulties and complications, they oftenmake use of other tools such as dictionaries. This preparation would not be done had the work presentedto them been in their native language. For them, such preparation will make the process more efficientand insure the success of interpretive operations.

6.2.2 Exploration

It is at this stage that the readers attempt to assemble the necessary knowledge pertaining to the text inorder to shape mental images or understanding.




The first contact of the readers is the taking into account of the title, a guide for operative operations.This allows them to have a first guess at the content of the text. One of the student studied substitutedhimself for the author in trying to divine the details of the following content. Another student used hisprevious knowledge on the subject, in other words, his “intra-individual” knowledge.

For its part, the source allows the discovery of the type of text, on the one hand, and gives guidance onthe details of the text, one the other hand. All of the students therefore tried to find guidance tools inorder to facilitate their introduction to the texts. Some looked at the length of the text, trying to evaluatethe time necessary to complete the reading.

Four different approaches were used in order to monitor the text. First, some students looked at theglobal content of the text, highlighting the unknown vocabulary. They are of the opinion thatunderstanding the words is of primordial importance in reading in a foreign language. Some otherstudents focused on the first and the last part of the text. These students believe that the main ideas inthe text are found in those portions. Two students used their metacognitive knowledge in order to selectthe useful information for dealing with the text.

In their initial try at interpreting the text, the students tried to understand its global meaning. Afterwards,they looked at more discrete or precise elements of the text such as its vocabulary. They therefore verifythe coherence of the lexical interpretation in the now better known context. Some learners controlled,checked, their interpretive operation by subdividing the texts into many parts and then looked at each ofthem in order to lessen the possible confusions or mistakes. Some students looked at individualparagraphs, either to recognize the links between the paragraphs or to verify their lexical understanding.

Some others focused on the sentences. For them, it is a more efficient and deliberate approach becausetextual comprehension is realized at that level. The “strategy” skill of one learner had him believe thatword by word translation is a way to better insure the coherence of the comprehension. Three studentsmade used of their linguistic knowledge, notably syntax and verb tenses understanding. The acquisitionof such knowledge seems useful to them for the next readings, therefore demonstrating their “task” skill.

Finally, some students spent time trying to identify the mains ideas of the text. In parallel to thecomprehension of the capital ideas, the students looked up the definitions of the unknown words on theInternet or in French-Thai and French-English dictionaries. It is surprising that no-one made use of thesolely French dictionaries which are supposed to be accessible at their proficiency level.

6.2.3 Synthesis

This step in the comprehension process comprises the activities necessary for the creation of mentalimages, which are tantamount to textual comprehension. These images are created by the minds of thereaders with the information acquired in the course of the reading. As the activity is naturally andintensely personal, it is quite possible that each individual will have different images than those of othersdespite having read the very same texts. In the same vein, each individual may choose differentinterpretive operations than his peers. We will therefore look at the ways we may define the variousrepresentations during the comprehension of the texts.

The analysis tells us that, in order to identify the main ideas of a text and to obtain an adequateunderstanding, in other words, to select the appropriate representation-tools, the student will take chargeof the interpretive process the following ways:

· by reading the text sentence by sentence;

· by reformulating each sentence;




· by creating paragraphs using translated sentences;

· by placing the situations encountered in their chronological order.

Since textual treatment remains at the level of the sentence and phrase, linguistic knowledge, mostparticularly a grasp of verb tenses, is emphasized. Afterwards, many students tried to establish the linksbetween the various levels of the text, such as between paragraphs and the whole text.

Verbal reformulation of the comprehension allows students to better comprehend the text because theymust continuously question their mental representations. In order to verbally express theirrepresentations, the learners had to analyze the sentences by identifying their various components suchas the verbs or the subjects and they had to answer very basic questions about them such as: “who doeswhat?, how?, why?, where?” Some students therefore demonstrated their use of metacognitive skills:

· Strategy skill: “Doing this facilitates the comprehension and the memorization of the content.”

· Task skill: “Every reading is an opportunity to acquire new knowledge.”

The drafting of a summary, another reformulation tool, helps the students in creating the mentalrepresentations. This practice assists the students in refining their textual comprehension, in gatheringall the newly acquired knowledge and, also, in evaluating their satisfaction with the strategies they used.Lastly, group discussions with other students will help in clarifying some aspects of the texts that hadremained unclear until then.

7. DIAGRAM OF THE INTERPRETIVE PROCESSIn closing this piece, I endeavor to illustrate the interpretive operations with their feedback stage for thecases where the mental representations created are not adequate for the reading situation at hand. Thismodel can be adapted to any reader. It will help that reader in attaining the fundamental goal of reading,which is the comprehension of the message transmitted by way of the text, through a series of plannedsteps using introspective thoughts.

In order to illustrate the different steps of the interpretive operation, I borrowed the model developed byL. Trudel, C. Parent and A. Métioui and adapted it in order to make sure that its parameters wereadequate for the objectives of my survey.




Figure 1: Textual comprehension process

I distinguish three steps, which are, in reality, simultaneous: the impregnation phase, the explorationphase and the synthesis phase. First, before the reading itself, the reader will observe, on the one hand,the context and conditions of the reading such as the instructions given by the professor, the size of thetext, the knowledge and skills required, the goals in reading the text and the necessary tools. On theother hand, the reader will examine his mind-set regarding the reading and the knowledge and skills hehas previously acquired. Before entering the next phase, the reader will choose how to go about the workor plan how he will reach the goals set. During the exploration phase, the reader will control or regulatethe various operations in order to attain the desired results. The decision to enter into the last phasedepends on the satisfaction of the reader with the results he obtained. If he is satisfied, he will continueon to the synthesis phase in order to choose the appropriate mental representations and to evaluate thework achieved. If he is not satisfied, the reader will start over the first and second phases until he issatisfied with the results and can therefore move on to the last phase, evaluation or synthesis.

REFERENCESBrown, AL 1987, ‘Metacognition, executive control, self regulation and other more mysteriousmechanisms’ in F.E. Weinert et R.H. Kluwe (ed.), Metacognition, Motivation, and Understanding,LAE, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 65-116.Brown, AL 1978, ‘Knowing when, where, and how to remember: A problem of metacognition’ in R.Glaser (ed.), Advances in instructional psychology, vol. 1, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 77-165.Brown, AL 1980, ‘Metacognitive development and reading’, in R.J. Spiro, B. Bruce & W.F. Brewer(eds), Theoretical issues in reading comprehension, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, N.J., pp.453-479.Conseil de la coopération culturelle 2005, Un cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues :apprendre, enseigner, évaluer, Didier, Paris.




Doudin, PA & Martin, D 1992, De l´intérêt de l´approche métacognitive en pédagogie. Une revue de lalittérature, Centre vaudois de recherches pédagogiques, Lausanne.Dutt, C 1998, Herméneutique, esthétique, philosophie : dialogue avec Hans-Georg Gadamer, Ipperciel,D (trad.), Fides, Montréal.Eco, U 1992, Les limites de l’interprétation, Grasset, Paris.Eiammongkhonsakun, S 2011, ‘La lecture en langue étrangère : compréhension, interprétation etreformulation. Étude de cas : des lycéens et des étudiants thaïlandais face à la lecture en langueétrangère’, PhD thesis, Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon.Falarddeau, E 2003, ‘Compréhension et interprétation : deux composantes complémentaires de la lecturelittéraire’, Revue des sciences de l’éducation, vol 29, n°3, pp. 673-694.Flavell, JH 1976, ‘Métacognitive aspects of problem-solving’ in L.B. Resnick (dir.), Perspectives onThe Development of Memory and Cognition, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 231-235.Flavell, JH 1985, ‘Developpement cognitif’, in J. Bideaud et M. Richelle (dir.), Phychologiedéveloppementale. Problèmes et réalité, Mardaga, Bruxelles, pp. 29-41.Flavell, JH 1987, ‘Speculation about the nature and development of metacognition’, in F.E. Weinert &R.H. Kluwe (dir.), Metacognition, Motivation, and Understanding, NJ, LAE, Hillsdale, pp. 21-29.Guiford, JP 1956, ‘The structure of intellect’, Psychological Bulletin, n°52, pp. 267-293.Just, MA & Carpenter, PA 1987, The Psychology of reading and language comprehension, Allyn andBacon, Boston : MA.Lafortune, L, Frechette, S, Sorin, N, Doudin, PA & Albanese, O 2010, Approches affectivesmétacognitives et cognitives de la compréhension, Presses de l’Université du Québec, Québec.Matlin, MW 2001, La cognition : une introduction à la psychologie cognitive, De Boeck Université,Belgique.Sternberg, RJ 1984a, ‘Toward a triachic theory of human intelligence’, The brain and beahavioralSciences, 7, pp. 269-315.Sternberg, RJ 1984b, ‘Mechanisms of cognitive development: A componential approach’ inR.J.Sternberg (Eds), Mechanisms of Cognitive Development, W.H. Freeman and Co, New York .Tauveron, C 1999, ‘Comprendre et interpréter le littéraire à l’école : du texte réticent au texteproliférant’, Repères, n°19, pp. 9-38.Trudel, L, Parent, C & Metioui, A 2009, ‘Démarche, cheminement et stratégies : une approche en troisphases pour favoriser la compréhension des concepts scientifiques’, Revue des sciences de l’éducation,vol 35, n°3, pp. 149-172.Vanderdorpe, C 1992, ‘Comprendre et interpréter’ in C. Préfontaine et M. Lebrun (dir.), La lecture etl’écriture. Enseignement et apprentissage, Les Editions Logiques, Montréal, pp.159-182.Verreault, F & Pelletier, M 1998, ‘Interprétation des œuvres d’art : proposition d’une démarche’ Revuesdes sciences de l’éducation, vol 24, n°3, pp. 541-565.Wolfs, JL 2005, ‘Métacognition et réflexivité dans le champs scolaire : origines des concepts, analysecritique et perspectives’ in M. Derycke (dir.), Culture (s) et réflexivité, publication de l’Université deSt.-Etienne, St-Etienne, pp. 21-31




INTERDISCIPLINARY TEACHING APPROACH

Yavor Y. Georgiev

American University in Bulgaria

Abstract

This article presents the Interdisciplinary collaboration and its potential and value for the moderneducation process. It also shares several examples from author's experience in Teaching ForeignLanguages and further conclusions about cross-disciplinary work.

Future is hold by those who are prepared to work in team and to create new products putting togetherknowledge from different scientific fields.

A few years ago the author got a chance to meet a famous scientist and explorer who has discoveredfor him this approach with several examples of collaborative work. Then the author has been keepinghis eyes open to everything surrounding his life and he has tracked a good amount of examples of cross-disciplinary work. Now he realizes this is one of the major challenges for the educators today, and it´sa fundamental step in the process of creation of future leaders which we´re attempting to develop.

Key words: interdisciplinary curriculum, cross-curricular teaching, collaboration, significantlearning, lifelong

1. DEFINITION & BASIC CONCEPTS

The roots of this new tendency could be found back in the 80s. A basic definition is offered byHumphreys (Humphreys, Post, and Ellis 1981) when he states, "An integrated study is one in whichchildren broadly explore knowledge in various subjects related to certain aspects of their environment”.

All kind of definitions support the view that integrated curriculum is an educational approach thatprepares young people for lifelong learning. There is strong belief that schools must look at educationas a process for developing abilities required by the life in the twenty-first century, rather than a discrete,departmentalized subject matter. The interdisciplinary curriculum should be a combination of subjects,an emphasis on projects, sources that go beyond textbooks, should be a relationships among concepts,thematic units as organizing principles, flexible schedules, and flexible student groupings.

In the 90s Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) was documented for first time by theEuropean Platform EUROCLIC (http://www.europeesplatform.nl/sf.mcgi?id=96), and was the firstsignificant achievement in this area. They based their theory on the fact that learning a language is acognitive and natural process, and that a foreign language can be taught through many academicdisciplines, different than the language per se (Marsh 2002). It´s a process where “the FLTeaching isnot the goal of one and the same subject, but of the whole academic curriculum” (Baeten 2009).

The greatest benefit of the CLIL approach is that a student stays in contact with the target languagemuch longer, and the most important, its use is contextualized, i.e. it is given a real sense. In the practice,this means that subjects like Biology, Geography and Mathematics, for example, can be taught in thetarget language, broadening this way the communicative contexts. Actually, there are many schoolsaround the world that have implemented this approach in their curriculum. For instance, in Bulgaria




there are the popular Bilingual High-schools. Of course, this methodology requires that teachers fromdifferent disciplines collaborate much closer than usual, offering students a bunch of logically relatedactivities which allow them to catch up easily with the material and to connect the logical dots betweenthe variety of academic disciplines.

The CLIL is still an innovative and challenging process, but it was just the beginning of something thatis much bigger today: the Interdisciplinary collaboration. What started out like teaching integratedcontents through different subjects, now is a cognitive approach where knowledge from different fieldsis put together in order to create new products.

We have gone about as far as we can go with isolated instruction and learning. Many teachers aroundthe world are still stuck at their specific fields and they are having hard time finding other ways and newdiscoveries. This is outdated. While it may have served the purpose for the older generations, it does notmeet “the deeper learning needs of people today and tomorrow”. (Johnson 2013). Students today haveto learn how to be great contributors tomorrow. Deeper learning can be accelerated by consolidatingteacher efforts and combining relevant contents, in effect, opening new spillways of knowledge. It´sabsolutely impossible to educate a new collaborative generation of people without the clear convictionof the educators. The biggest challenge for the teachers is that we have to show students how to work inteam, how to share and how to use the received knowledge from their colleagues. A translation of allthese words to some simple examples would be to get back to the Bilingual High-schools scenario,where, for example, students are given the task to create a resume in Spanish of several definitions andformulas in Chemistry, and after that to create HTML version of this information. What do we need forthis? On first place, a good team of teachers in Spanish, Chemistry and IT, who are flexible enough sothe Syllabus of each one of them can fit into the learning methodology of their colleagues.

Cross-curricular teaching involves a conscious effort to apply knowledge, principles, and/or values tomore than one academic discipline simultaneously. The disciplines may be related through a centraltheme, issue, problem, process, topic, or experience (Jacobs 1989). The organizational structure ofinterdisciplinary collaboration is called a theme, thematic unit, or unit, which is a framework withgoals/outcomes that specify what students are expected to learn as a result of the experiences and lessonsthat are a part of the unit.

Interdisciplinary teaching is often seen as a way to address some of the recurring problems in education,such as fragmentation and isolated skill instruction. It is seen as a way to support goals such as transferof learning, teaching students to think and reason, and providing a curriculum more relevant to students(Marzano & Perkins 1991).

This new approach also corresponds perfectly to 4Cs of the 21st century education: critical thinking andproblem solving; communication, collaboration; and creativity and innovation.

Interdisciplinary instruction allows us to understand our preconceptions of "what is" and the frameworkby which we reached to this question. It also fits with recent advances in learning science about how tofoster learning when students bring powerful pre-existing ideas with them to the learning process.Bransford (2000) drawing on scientific research findings from the fields of neuroscience, cognitivescience, social psychology, and human development afirms that interdisciplinary forms of instruction,help students overcome a tendency to maintain preconceived notions. This is accomplished byrecognizing the source of the preexisting understandings they arrive with, and by introducing studentsto subject matter from a variety of perspectives that challenge their existing notions. Interdisciplinaryinstruction accomplishes this goal by helping students identifying insights from a range of disciplinesthat contribute to an understanding of the issue under consideration. Also, it allows students to develop




the ability to integrate concepts and ideas from these disciplines into a broader conceptual frameworkof analysis.

When students put aside their pre-existing notions they position themselves to learn facts more readilyand are more open to adopting a range of methodologies that promote understanding. Teachers can thusspend more time exploring issues with them that promote significant learning.

Significant Learning (Fink 2003) takes place when meaningful and lasting classroom experiences occur.According to Fink, when teachers impart students with a range of skills from different areas, and insightsabout the educational process, better student engagement in the learning process and greater learningoccurs. Fink identifies several elements of the educational process that lead to significant learning andeach of these is considered a common feature of interdisciplinary forms of instruction:

· Foundational knowledge – acquiring information and understanding ideas

· Application – acquiring an understanding of how and when to use skills

· Integration – the capacity to connect ideas

· Human Dimension - recognition of the social and personal implications of issues

· Caring – acknowledgment of the role of feelings, interests, and values

· Learning How-to-Learn – obtaining insights into the process of learning

Interdisciplinary teaching approach fosters the acquisition of foundational knowledge combining ideasfrom multiple disciplines. It also provides an insight on how to apply knowledge and keep learning fromnew experience. Moreover, students are encouraged to account for the contribution of disciplines thathighlight the roles of caring and social interaction when analyzing problems. Students are expected tofind interdisciplinary education engaging and thus an effective way to advance their understanding oftopics under investigation.

2. LIFE-LONG LEARNING

Many authors try to explain why the integration of the performing arts and social studies enhances boththe teaching and learning of the disciplines throughout a lifetime. For instance, a history teacher in herstudy says “I feel that arts integration is important in the overall educational experience. The culturalbenefits are one reason that I favor the inclusion of the arts. Another reason is the cognitive enhancementthat music and arts education offers students of all ages” (Taylor 2008, p.236). Taylor concludes that“Interdisciplinary work by both educators and students may broaden students' knowledge of history anddiverse cultures. Including the arts in social studies instruction may have pedagogical benefits as wellbecause the inclusion would facilitate differentiated instruction” (Taylor 2008). While there are manystatistical reports which conclude that students of interdisciplinary techniques have higher test scores inboth core knowledge and critical thinking problems, there is also a need for interdisciplinary techniquesto better remember basic discipline lessons later in life. In an article titled “Interdisciplinary Instruction”,Laura Duerr explains the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to the life of a student by stating,“With interdisciplinary instruction, students can become more involved in their learning and teacherscan work toward eliminating discipline lines. Students can become independent, confident individualswho ‘learn how to learn’ and develop lifelong learning skills” (Duerr 2008, p.177). The interdisciplinaryapproach is a team-taught enhancement of student performance, an integration of methodology and




pedagogy, and a much needed lifelong learning skill. Students who have the skills that interdisciplinarycourses provide are so valuable to our future that they are now sought out by colleges and businesses.

3. EXAMPLES FROM EVERY-DAY LIFE

If we take apart the raw theory about this approach and we take a look at the myriad of events and newsfrom our everyday life, we can easily find many examples of this collaborative kind of thinking andwork. Here are some examples:

· On of the most recent one is literally from April 4th 2013. The Facebook owner, MarkZuckerberg, announced company´s new development called Facebook Home. This software isbeing developed in “a partnership with the handset manufacturer, HTC, which has developed aphone with the software built into it.” (Caroll 2013). Even the biggest companies don´t workalone, but in collaboration with others. This way, they offer a new competitive product.

· We all have used at one point Google Translate, and we all know it´s not what it should be. Itsinaccuracy and inadequacy in translation is disappointing. But there are several companiesworking on the main goal in translation: that a machine is able to translate the adequate meaningby doing a lightning fast analysis of information and language codes as the real human braincan do. Not an easy job, indeed. But big achievements have been made. Natural LanguageProcessing (NLP) is a scientific field where many linguists, computer engineers, etc. have joinedtheir efforts. FunGramKB is just a good example of team work among many others(http://carlosgonzalezvergara.weebly.com/fungramkb.html)

The author is convinced that future will be hold by those people who manage to work in team sharingtheir knowledge from different social and scientific fields in order to create a new product, that´s whyhe strongly believes the main goal of the teacher today is to educate in this model. But to achieve thatit´s necessary also to convince other teachers to do it. Only this way students could feel

4. ONGOING PROJECTS

4.1. On Spring semester 2013 the author initiated a project between Modern Languages, History andComputer Science Departments in AUBG for a new generation tourist guide of Bulgaria in Spanish, andother languages too. This work requires the knowledge, the experience, the IT skills and the correct dataprovided by a team of researchers from different disciplines. No one of them can reach to a decent resultin this aspect by working on their own. This guide will put accent on the Post-communism legacy in thecountry, starting from monuments through industrial villages and festivals. The author believes that thisproduct will have a strong impact in the Bulgarian cultural scene and can pump “fresh air” to the tourismindustry. This is still an ongoing work, so results will be revealed later.

4.2. Another ongoing work of interdisciplinary collaboration is the one proposed to the students fromMLL 256 Intermediate Spanish II course, Spring 2013. It started as a routine in-class activity. Themajority of the FLL materials available today are based on the task-based approach. All the languageskills taught and learned through each chapter, gravitate around one main activity that pretends to putstudents in a situation closer to the real life. Unfortunately, there is no tool still that can substitute thereal communicative environment, that’s why teachers should be as creative as possible. At the end ofChapter 6 of Gente 2 (B2) book the author of this project proposed a creation of a video material inSpanish which talks about the AUBG life of people from different nationalities. The idea was polished




with the help of the students. Besides the cross-curricular approach, this activity actually, fits many goalsat once: to offer students a real life situation, to make a product which can be used effectively for theneeds of the AUBG Focus 2017 campaign. Also, as a strong believer in the interdisciplinary approach,the author considers this video shooting a great opportunity where students can apply the knowledgethey acquired from different fields into one new product. This mix of MLL and JMC skills results in areally motivating and useful effort. MLL Spanish skills are being used when preparing the spoken text,or its translation in Spanish. Everything has to be correct in terms of Grammar and Semantic. JMC skillslike shooting audio & video, camera position, lights, focus, effects, mastering, etc. are being used alsoduring the whole process. At the moment of this conference the author and his students managed torecord the video & audio, to edit the raw material, they did the mastering and added subtitles in thetarget language. Video can be watched by visiting the following web address:

http://youtu.be/kXDXDwiswuE

The team encountered a problem when synchronizing subtitles in YouTube and currently is working tofix it. In any case, giving the fact that the product is almost completed, one sentence resume can be madein favor of the main theory defended in this paper - it’s clear that people only from one disciplinecouldn´t have done this.

These are the conclusions made till this moment:

· When the director of the project is not sure what exactly the final result should look like that canbe disappointing and demotivating for the students.

· Since there is no previous experience with similar activities, all the members of the team have tobe prepared to learn new things on every single step, and have to be as flexible as they can, sincemany times an improvisation at the moment could be necessary. Otherwise, the work getschaotic and pointless.

· An appropriate distribution of duties is required, a small groups where formed, one in charge ofthe technical aspect (camera, microphones, etc.), others are organizers who have to meet withseveral students trying to convince to take part in the video, and one more: for the script.

· Making a closed group in Facebook makes wonders. It´s the most popular social network, peopleare constantly there and it´s easier to see them giving ideas than when in class.

· The use of social networking leans to much better participation and communication mainly on thetarget language: an excellent and motivating practice.

4.3. Another example of cross-curricular collaboration is the project started on Spring 2013 called AUBGmusic band. Of course, this example could be applied by every academic center. It consists in joiningthe knowledge and skills from four Departments, at least. Not only teachers will have the chance toadjust their work to the efforts of their colleagues, but the University band is a great opportunity for thestudents to practice and master their skills, despite of the musical style chosen by the band members andsupported by the University. For example, people from Fine Arts will be in charge of the musicalinterpretations and the choreography. People from Modern Languages will have to practice with theband members the pronountiation of the lyrics. Students from Business Administration will be managingthe band, and last, but not least, the PR and visual media campaign will be led by the JMC Department.

When the band is ready with its repertoire is where the PR campaign, managing and performances start.Now we got a product and if it´s a quality one, it´ll attract new members to the band and to the university.




The team work continues and we have already closed the circle of collaboration as shown in the diagrambelow. A legacy inside an academic insitution has been already created.

Fig. 1

Such project could give a quick and positive feedback to its members once the band starts giging around.There are a lot of local and international festivals and cultural events that are potential stage for the band.The author has been contacted by colleagues from the University of Santiago de Compostela, who aredeveloping a similar project, so an inspiring inter-university collaboration results also possible. Fromthere, it´s up to the creativity and the responsibility of the teachers implied in this challenged way ofcollaboration to decide how to make the educational process a modern tool that motivates students tobecome future leaders.

5. CONCLUSION

The collaboration between different scientific fields is an idea that´s not new, but nowadays is gainingmore and more sense. In a globalizing world, where people from different parts communicate in aninstance and do business effortlessly, priorities start to move from a local towards a supranational level.This process is one of the biggest challenges for the educational systems worldwide. Most of the times,educators are working hard to become top scientists and investigators in their own field, but they aremissing one simple thing: the fact that most of their colleagues are doing the same, so chances to comeup with really innovative ideas are greatly reduced. Logically, this is also the model that educators todayuse to teach their students to. So basically, we are training next generations into the same old,conventional method of productivity, where results are expected to come only from the work in onediscipline. The technology and the summary of results achieved in the different areas of the life todayare a wonderful basis to start looking further in getting new products. There are many examples fromthe everyday life of companies and institutions that collaborate in order to create new products and toreach new benefits. Young people easily realize that this is a natural process. It´s only an educator´s jobhow to prepare students effectivly into this new model of thinking and work. Interdisciplinarycollaboration are key words for the future of the planet and is the biggest challenge for the educatorstoday who are stuck to the problems in one field only.




REFERENCES

Baeten-Beardsmore, H. 2009. CLIL debate, IATEFL

Caroll, R. 2013. Zuckerberg eyes Android takeover with 'best version of Facebook there is, TheGardian

'http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/apr/04/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-home-android

Duerr, Laura L., 2008. Interdisciplinary Instruction, Educational Horizons.http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/3e/0c/ 3a.pdf

Fink, Dee, L. 2003. Creating Significant Learning Experiences, JOSSEY-BASS, A Wiley Imprint

Humphreys, A.; Post, T.; and Ellis, A. 1981. Interdisciplinary Methods: A Thematic Approach.

Santa Monica, CA: Goodyear Publishing Company, p.11

Jacobs, H. H. 1989. Interdisciplinary Curriculum: Design and Implementation. Alexandria, VA:Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

Johnson, B. 2013. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/cross-curricular-teaching-deeper-learning-ben-johnson

Marsh, D (Ed) 2002 CLIL/EMILE - The European Dimension: Actions, Trends and ForesightPotential Public Services Contract DG EAC: European Commission

Marzano, R.J. 1991. Fostering thinking across the curriculum through knowledge restructuring.Journal of Reading, 34(7)

Perkins, D.N. 1991. Educating for insight. Educational Leadership, 49(2)

Taylor, Julie Anne, 2008. From the Stage to the Classroom: The Performing Arts and Social

Studies. The History Teacher, v.41, #2. Wilson Web. http://www.csulb.edu/~histeach/




LIFELONG LEARNING STRATEGIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ROSTOCK

Katrin Claussen and Claudia Jäger

Centre for Quality Assurance in Study and Further Education, University of Rostock

18051 Rostock, Germany

Abstract

The University of Rostock is the oldest university in Northern Europe and has got the reputation to bea modern university combining tradition and innovation. Research, study and education are at a highlevel. Further education at the University of Rostock is realized through tailor-made study programswhich are developed and organized at the Centre for Quality Assurance in Study and Further Education(CQA). At present there are four long-distance master study courses available. Apart from this, anannually updated certificate program with tailor-made modules covering different topics is open forprofessionals and people interested in further education. In order to make higher education accessiblefor non-traditional students and broaden the interest of lifelong learning, a project (KOSMOS51) hasbeen implemented in 2011. The main focus of this project is the organizational development and, inconsequence, the expansion and implementation of lifelong learning strategies at the University ofRostock.

Key words: lifelong learning – organizational development – further education – non-traditionalstudents – open university – tailor-made study programs – accompanying research

1. THE UNIVERSITY OF ROSTOCK: TRADITIO ET INNOVATIOLocated in the northeast of Germany, the University of Rostock (www.uni-rostock.de) is the oldestuniversity in Northern Europe. Founded in 1419 with three faculties, the university looks back on a longtradition of education and research. Today, it is structured into nine traditional faculties and oneinterdisciplinary faculty which represents the four academic profile fields of the University of Rostock.As a result of the intensive cooperation with various well-known institutes in Rostock and surroundingareas and the interdisciplinary work in these complex fields, the University of Rostock is able to developnew, future-oriented perspectives, contents and technologies.52

Since the Bologna Process the higher education system in Germany has undergone a tremendous change.The introduction of the Bachelor-Master system at the University of Rostock started already in 2002.Since then, the study programs were gradually restructured and transformed to the Bachelor-Mastersystem. Today, the University of Rostock is totally revised and offers 32 Bachelor and 41 Masterprograms.53 Potential students from Germany and other countries can choose between over 100 fields

51 The project’s name KOSMOS is an abbreviation for “Construction and Organization of a Study Program inOpen Systems”.52 cf. University of Rostock, http://www.uni-rostock.de/en/research/, accessed 24/06/2013.53 cf. University of Rostock, The University in Figures, Edition 2013.




of study.54 In 2012, the university attracted approximately 15,100 students who play an important role– economically, culturally and scientifically – for the Hanseatic City of Rostock. The University ofRostock with a work force of 2,697 (of which 290 are professors) in the University and the UniversityHospital55 is one of the biggest employers in Rostock, the largest city of Mecklenburg-WesternPomerania with over 200,000 inhabitants.

2. FURTHER EDUCATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ROSTOCK

How is further education incorporated into the organizational structure of the university?

Since 1991, the University of Rostock pursues the integration of further education as a part of higher(further) education systematically as it is a relevant issue for the university location and its imagenationwide. Ever since, long distance learning courses and further education modules have beenconceptualized, organized and marketed at the University of Rostock together with professors, lecturersand local institutions. Therefore, the university established a central institution in 2003 which isresponsible for further education: The Centre for Quality Assurance in Study and Further Education(CQA). The CQA is a department of the Rector and is structured into the division »Quality Assurance& Quality Improvement« and the division »Further Education & Distance Studies«. It is the information,advisory and competence centre not only for students, employed people and university lecturers but alsofor staff members and service providers. The division »Quality Assurance & Quality Improvement’s«field of activity includes the development and implementation, maintenance and abandoning of studycourses and the quality management in study and education as well as the monitoring of accreditationprocesses. The stakeholders in this area are mainly lecturers, students, representatives from ministriesand economy as well as accreditation and evaluation agencies regional and supra-regional.

The second division »Further Education and Distance Studies« conceptualizes, manages and marketslong distance learning courses and further education modules.

It was and still is an important aim for the University of Rostock to guarantee common quality standardsfor initial and further education. Therefore the two divisions »Quality Assurance & QualityImprovement« and »Further Education and Distance Studies« were put together to form the CQA.

What kinds of further education programs are offered?

The main working fields in further education are master study programs, a certificate program, In-housetrainings and a program for University didactic.

In 2012, the master study program »Technical Communication« (M.A.) was added to the alreadyexisting master programs »Media & Education« (M.A.), »Environment & Education« (M.A.) and»Environmental Protection« (M.Sc.). The curricula of all four study courses are characterized byinterdisciplinary approaches, competence development, participant-oriented didactics and amodularized structure. The standard period of study is four semesters for »Media & Education«,»Environment & Education« and »Environmental Protection« and five semesters for the study program»Technical Documentation«.

54 ibid.55 ibid.




Next to the four long distance study courses, the CQA also provides a certificate program with short-term, tailor-made courses which is updated every year. Modules from the certificate program addressacademics or people with at least one year of professional experience and cover topics fromManagement and Marketing, Communication, Education and Psychology to Technical Communication,Media Studies, Environmental Protection and Environmental Education, Horticultural Therapy andAmbient Assisted Living.

Figure 1: Further Education at the University of Rostock

Source: University of Rostock, CQA, 2013

Another part of the division »Further Education and Distance Studies« focusses on the universitydidactics and addresses mainly lecturers of universities, especially young academics but is also open forpeople who are interested in improving their skills in didactics, rhetoric and communication as well as




soft skills and conflict resolution. Moreover, the CQA also offers business trainings for companies inMecklenburg-Western Pomerania and supra-national: the company frames a specific topic for theiremployees and the CQA develops and accomplishes an adequate professional training according to thecompany’s needs and expectations.

The following figure gives an overview of the CQA program.

Which teaching and learning forms are suitable for further education programs?

For several years now, the concept of Blended-Learning has been proved suitable for the long distancestudy programs at the University of Rostock: The combination of self-study, e-learning and seminarsallows working students to learn self-directed and independently of time and location. The impartingof knowledge which is closely related to the special distance learning didactics represents acompetitive advantage for the University of Rostock in Germany.

Who takes part in further education programs at the University of Rostock?

Participants of further education programs at the University of Rostock are academics, professionalsand people who are interested in further education from Germany and German-speaking countries.Looking at the number of participants, a significant increase can be noted over the past years: In theacademic year 2007-2008, 278 students and participants took part in the long distance Masterprograms, certificate and university didactic courses whereas the number has increased to 814participants in total in the academic year 2011-2012.

Figure 2: Participants (individuals) in Further Education and Distance Studies from 2007-2012

Source: CQA, University of Rostock

What are future perspectives of further education and lifelong learning at the University of Rostock?

Educational policy is undergoing a period of transition: “Academic further education is at the interfaceof three European educational approaches: the Bologna Process, the concept of lifelong learning and the




European Higher Education qualifications framework.”56 These educational processes and theincreasing numbers of participants demand for an adaptation and development of innovative furthereducation programs. Initial education is no longer the only main task of universities: Lifelong learninghas become an indispensable matter for higher education institutions. The University of Rostockcorresponds to these requirements by developing innovative concepts within the project “KOSMOS –construction and organization of a study program in open systems”.

3. LIFELONG LEARNING IN GERMANY

Lifelong learning in higher education has no long tradition in Germany. In fact, “Germany may be anexample of a ‘delayed’ country in relation to the implementation of a lifelong learning policy in highereducation.”57 Within the last decade lifelong learning has become a more and more prominent aspect inhigher education, due to various reasons:

· The demographic change compounded the regional labour market bottlenecks and skillshortages.

· Social and economic innovation processes softened fixed traditional professions. The aspect ofmultidisciplinarity became inevitable in everyday work.

· Technical innovations caused the development of new professions.

· Globalization strengthened the need for an intercultural professionalization.

The shortage of skilled work forces has been the driving factor for a restructuring of the educationalsystem with a special interest in further education. Higher education institutions have to recognize theirresponsibility for developing and implementing lifelong learning concepts.

In order to support the implementation of lifelong learning concepts at higher education institutions theFederal Ministry of Education and Research financed the Federal Government-Länder competition“Advancement through Education: Open Universities”. This was an immediate reaction to the growingimportance of further education within the German education policy:

There is a general consensus in the education policy discussion regarding the need for and thesignificance of continuing academic education. The existing and increasing challenges of demographicchange, of technological development and international competition, the growing need for highlyqualified personnel as well as the avoidance of social conflicts demand that people living in Germanyshould have the highest possible educational attainments. And these attainments must be constantly

56 Ada Pellert & Eva Cendon, Einführungsartikel Lehre und Weiterbildung, http://wissenschaftsmanagement-online.de/converis/state_of_the_art_inhalt/78, accessed 24/06/2013.57 Andrä Wolter (2012): ‘Germany: From individual talent to institutional permeability: changing policies fornon-traditional access routes in German higher education’, in: Maria Stowey & Hans G. Schuetze (eds.) GlobalPerspectives on Higher Education and Lifelong Learners, Oxon, New York, pp. 43-44.




updated and adapted to new tasks and changing framework conditions in industry, technology and law.58

The competition “Advancement through Education: Open Universities” was designed to address“[f]urther functions of continuing academic education [such as] career advancement and securing one'sposition in the employment system [and therefore] plays a role in promoting the establishment anddevelopment of continuing academic education for new target groups at institutions of higher education”59.

3.1 On the way to lifelong learning strategies at the University of Rostock

The University of Rostock, namely the CQA, has more than 20 years of experience in developing andorganizing further education programs and was therefore predestinated to participate in the competition.The project “KOSMOS – construction and organization of a study program in open systems” was oneof 26 selected projects to be funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

What is the aim of the project?

The aim of the project is to implement a concept of lifelong learning in all areas of academic life andtherefore to pave the way for a culture of lifelong learning at the University of Rostock. This aim canonly be reached if the university structure will be completely changed. Lifelong learning means todevelop innovative study programs addressing traditional and non-traditional students and respectingtheir individual educational background. Especially non-traditional students are an important targetgroup in terms of lifelong learning. Furthermore, they also “form a key group […] in continuing highereducation programmes”60.

But it has not only been the organization itself which should undergo a deep change: rules andregulations on the broader scale – legal conditions and financial issues – should be transformed as wellin order to support lifelong learning.61

Who are non-traditional students?

There is no common definition for non-traditional students. In this context non-traditional students aredefined as “new groups of students who, for a complex range of social, economic and cultural reasonswere traditionally excluded from or under-represented in higher education”62. Furthermore, accordingto the life-cycle discourse, non-traditional students are referred to be “older or adult students with avocational training and work experience background, or other students with unconventional educationalbiographies”63.

58 Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Continuing Academic Education,http://www.bmbf.de/en/349.php, accessed 20/06/2013.59 ibid.60 Wolter, p. 43.61 Although there has not been the space to discuss these fields they should not be neglected. On the contrary,lifelong learning must have a better framework.62 Hans G. Schuetze & Maria Slowey (2002), ‘Participation and exclusion: A comparative analysis of non-traditional students and lifelong learners in higher education’, in: Higher Education, Vol. 44, Issue 3-4, p. 312.63 ibid., p. 313.




How is the project KOSMOS structured?

KOSMOS is designed to carry out the continuing implementation of lifelong learning on two levels.On the first level tailor-made study programs will be developed for traditional and non-traditionalstudents. Innovative study models will enable students to start a study program during all stages oflife. These programs will be designed to account for prior professional know how and to offer variousconnection possibilities to former trainings and professions. The central aspect on the second level isthe creation of an institutional framework for an implementation and acceptance of the lifelonglearning concept. This aspect has been a major field of concern within the German higher educationpolicy as Wolter points out: “Regrettably, adopting lifelong learning structures, opening up for non-traditional students and promoting continuing education have often been eyed suspiciously asdetrimental to the achievement of academic excellence.”64 Questions of recognition of qualifications,skills and capabilities will be discussed in order to secure a sustainable effect on other study programsoffered at the University of Rostock. The following figure illustrates the two fields of action of theproject.

Figure 3: Fields of action of the project KOSMOS


The project coordinator CQA works together with faculties and the service sector to guarantee a closelink between demand, research and economy. Within the two fields of action eight work packages (AP)are responsible for different tasks, matching to their focus in research. The faculty of Economic andSocial Sciences hosts the research on financing models, target group and requirement analysis,organization building as well as network building. Target group specific consulting is dealt with in thefaculty of humanities. Furthermore, the development of target group orientated study programs is partof their work. The German Institute for Adult Education (DIE) is responsible for securing the qualitydevelopment on all levels.

64 Wolter p. 47.




The following figure gives an overview of the work processes within the project.

Figure 4: Linking of organisation building and offer development


3.2 Good practice example: the certificate course »Garden & Health – Horticultural Therapy«

The certificate course »Garden & Health – Horticultural Therapy« was the first tailor-made studyprogram to be developed for traditional and non-traditional students within the KOSMOS project. Thiscourse started in April 2013 with 25 participants. The topic Horticultural Therapy was chosen as itmatched thematically the “green” long distance Master programs »Environment and Education« and»Environmental Protection«. Moreover, a great demand on the service sector was detected by theaccompanying research.

What were the pre-conditions for implementing the certificate course?

The German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania defines itself as a state of health. Numerousrehabilitation clinics are situated especially at the coasts of the Baltic Sea. In order to set themselvesapart from other clinics they need to specialize. Offering horticultural therapy might be one way to copewith competition. The demographic change with its aging of society provides a solid basis of possibleclients for Horticultural Therapy. The demand on the service sector leads to a demand for educationalopportunities but these are rare in Germany. Moreover, there has not been a single institution offeringeducational programs on the topic of horticultural therapy in the northern part of Germany.

Who is the target audience?

According to the research results three main professional sectors were detected to provide the targetaudience: health and care sector, social professions and the so called “green professions” (gardeners,landscape designers). The composition of participants is heterogeneous regarding their age, professionalexperiences and educational background. In order to support the knowledge exchange within the groupthe participants were chosen purposely by a team of university professors.

The curriculum of the certificate course »Garden & Health – Horticultural Therapy« was developed incooperation with the faculties and with the help of external experts. At a very early stage members of




the target groups were invited to take an active role in the development process. This was seen as animportant step in constructing a demand-oriented and tailor-made study program. Therefore, a workshopwith potential participants from the suitable professional sectors was organized. It turned out that a highpractical relevance in combination with profound knowledge transfer was seen as essential for the studyprogram. All participants insisted on a close link between their professional life and the academiclearning.

How is the course structured?

The course is structured as a long distance offer for employed people. It consists of four semesters witheach semester being subdivided into modules, except for the last which is reserved for writing the finalpaper. A practical training is one component of the course with an amount of 90 hours, whereby thesequences can be determined individually. All participants get academic support and take part in areflection process during the course. Especially the reflection period is part of the accompanyingresearch, to investigate the handling of an academic learning situation having different educationalbackgrounds.

Figure 5: Module structure of the certificate course »Garden & Health – Horticultural Therapy«


Which teaching and learning forms are used?

The outline of the course is adapted to the needs of working participants which is reflected by the choiceof teaching and learning forms.

Blended learning is used in each module combining self-learning, online seminars and periods ofattendance. In addition, academic support and the reflection period serve to supervise the learningoutcome and help the participants to analyze their learning ability and success.




4. CHALLENGES AND CHANCES OF IMPLEMENTING LIFELONG LEARNING AT THEUNIVERSITY OF ROSTOCK

The given overview of the CQA’s structure and the above mentioned example of a further educationcourse clearly show that the University of Rostock already has a convincing further education programwhich could be a solid basis for transferring lifelong learning strategies.

What will the CQA do within the next five years to support the implementation of lifelong learningstrategies?

The CQA will focus on a continuing development of the further education program: this includes thedevelopment of new study formats which aim at tailor-made courses developed with national andinternational partners and stakeholders. A successful further education program in the upcoming yearswill provide the ground for meeting the requirements of lifelong learners. This results in a partialopening of courses, in offering special courses, in combining traditional pathways with newly designedcourses, in acknowledging experiences made at former stages in life. Consequently, two developmentshave been noticed: a commencing implementation of lifelong learning aspects driven by practicalengagement and the reconstruction of the organization itself through governance and revision of severalprocesses in university life.

There are several challenges which have to be faced within the next years:

1. acceptance within university: The acceptance of further education and lifelong learning withinthe university has to be strengthened.

2. heterogeneous audience: Dealing with lifelong learners in further education programs meansworking with a heterogeneous group. This requires an adequate didactic which has to be updatedaccording to a changing learning environment.

3. political framework: According to rules and regulations on state level as well as country levelsome changes should be forced: Financing of educational offers after initial education which isfree of charge; supportive structures for professors and lectures participating in furthereducation.

Despite the above mentioned challenges implementing lifelong learning strategies opens up newchances for the University of Rostock.

1. improvement of study and teaching through experienced lifelong learners: Critical questionsand impulses made by lifelong learners do not only lead to new impulses and contacts but alsoallow a direct transfer of new research findings into professional practice.

2. effects on professors and lecturers: The interdisciplinarity of seminars is enriched by thedifferent professional backgrounds of the participants which is perceived as an advantage by thelecturers. Working with experienced adult learners supports the professional and personaldevelopment of professors and lecturers.

3. close relation to eminent educational demands: Lifelong learners communicate educationaldemands resulting from their professional background to the university. Thus, innovativemarket-oriented further education programs can be developed.

In order to implement a lifelong learning strategy at the University of Rostock several pre-conditionsmust be fulfilled.




1. Lifelong learning strategies can only be realized by the university management and musttherefore be implemented top-down.

2. The strategy of lifelong learning must be rooted in the university’s structure to guarantee ageneral commitment.

3. Suitable educational programs have to be developed taking into account the participants’professional experiences and individual biography.

4. Universal systems regarding academic recognition and the transparency of qualifications haveto be established to guarantee comparability.

The University of Rostock is conscious of the complex requirements in the field of lifelong learning.Nevertheless, first steps were already taken towards an acceptance and implementation of a genuinelifelong learning concept. Agreeing with the German author Hermann Hesse saying “To achieve theimpossible, one must persist in attempting the impossible”, the University of Rostock aims to be auniversity of lifelong learning by the year 2020.

REFERENCESFederal Ministry of Education and Research (2011): Continuing Academic Education. Available:http://www.bmbf.de/en/349.php. Accessed 20/06/2013.

Schomburg, H. (2011): Bachelor graduates in Germany: internationally mobile, smooth transition andprofessional success. In: Schomburg, H. and Teichler, U. Employability and Mobility of BachelorGraduates in Europe: Key Results of the Bologna Process. Rotterdam/Boston/Taipei: Sense Publishers.pp. 89-110.

Schuetze, H. G., Slowey, M. (2002): Participation and exclusion: A comparative analysis of non-traditional students and lifelong learners in higher education. In: Higher Education. vol.44, issue 3-4,pp. 309-327.

Pellert, A., Cendon E. (2008): Einleitungsartikel Lehre und Weiterbildung. Available:http://wissenschaftsmanagement-online.de/converis/state_of_the_art_inhalt/78. Accessed 24/06/2013.

University of Rostock (2013): Research. Available: http://www.uni-rostock.de/en/research/. Accessed24/06/2013.

University of Rostock (2013): The University in Figures. Rostock: University of Rostock.

Wolter, A. (2012): Germany: from individual talent to institutional permeability: changing policies fornon-traditional access routes in German higher education. In: Schuetze, H. G., Slowey, M. GlobalPerspectives on Higher Education and Lifelong Learners. Oxon/New York: Routledge. pp. 43-59.




DISCOURSE INTONATION VS GRAMMATICAL INTONATION:

PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOMJabreel Asghar

King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia

[email protected]

Abstract

In this essay, I compare and contrast grammatical model of intonation with discourse intonationmodel. I have selected the former model first because grammar and intonation historically havebeen considered close and inter-related (Coupler_Kohlen: 1986) and are still popular incountries like Pakistan where teaching of pronunciation is in an early transitional phase.Secondly, grammatical model being one of the earliest approaches to intonation seems to be thebase for other approaches to intonation. Finally, ELT textbooks still tend to teach intonation fromgrammatical dimension, especially in Pakistani language classroom that is already heavilyinfluenced with grammar in other aspects. Keeping in view a good number of discussions onvarious approaches to intonation and the limited scope of this paper, this paper confines thediscussion only to grammatical and discourse models of intonation. This paper discusses majoraspects of both approaches, followed by comparative discussion on their linguistic validity andpedagogical advantages as well as disadvantages.

Key words: grammatical intonation, discourse intonation, English language teaching

1. INTRODUCTION

Intonation is one of the most challenging aspects of spoken language because listening to a foreignlanguage and tracing down the rise and fall of voice is a complex and Chapman (2007) observes thateven native speakers find it demanding. Moreover, it is, sometimes, difficult to identify the correct toneof speech even after repeated listening and listeners in language classroom may not reach an agreedanswer. It is also controversial in the sense that over the last few decades linguists have presented varioustheories of learning and teaching intonation. However, the debate is unending for all the functions ofintonations are closely related to each other and it is hard to find a clear demarcation between theapproaches. Roach (2000) observes that “what seems to be common to accentuate grammatical anddiscourse functions is the indication, by means of intonation, of the relationship between some linguisticelement and the context in which it occurs” (p. 184). Tench (1996) gives six major functions ofintonation or in other words, six approaches to study intonation. Brown (1997), however, views thefunctions of intonation in three major categories: grammatical functions, attitudinal functions anddiscourse functions. Roach (2000) adds accentual functions to the list.

Apart from the debates on these functions, all of them have their own validity in one way or the other.Intonation is important for a number of reasons: it potentially can compensate listeners’ grammaticalmisunderstanding of speech (Rost, 1990; Roach, 2000); it helps speakers as well as listeners to determinethe management of information such as ‘what comes first, what follows, what precedes’ (Tench, 1996:17) and also signals various stages in conversation such as ‘to quit talking, to respond in a particular




fashion, or to pay particular attention to a piece of highlighted information’ (Celce-Mercia 1996, p. 200);it helps listeners to indicate turn taking (Dalton & Seidlhofer, 1994); listeners can guess speaker’sattitude and mood through intonation focusing on not what they say but the way they say it (Tench 1996,Brown 1997, Roach 2000); as it informs ‘whether the speaker is asking, telling, ordering etc’ (Tench1996, p. 19). All of these functions, though, have been categorised separately and have been discussedin past studied in isolation, focusing on one or two dimensions of intonation functions might not provideinsight into the information on speech and speaker because there is over lap between many functions(Roach 2000). In order to avoid ambiguity resulted from this overlap, I first discuss below the featuresof both grammatical and discourse models of intonation before highlighting their relevance withreference to pedagogical issues.

2. GRAMMATICAL MODEL OF INTONATIONGrammatical model of intonation refers to indicating the syntactic structures of speech throughintonation. Roach (2000) finds it customary to illustrate the grammatical function by using differenttypes of intonation. Grammatical approach claims to identifying rise and fall with the occurring of clausestructure. Various generalizations have been suggested to recognise the intonation pattern followingsyntactic structures in speech. For example, Thompson 1995, Cauldwell & Hewings 1996 & Roach2000 discuss that question-intonation in ELT books suggests the rule that yes/no questions, generally,end with a rising tone whereas wh questions end with a falling tone:

1. │Shall we go ↑ tomorrow │

2. │Where shall we go ↓tomorrow│65 (Cauldwell & Hewings 1996, p. 331)

However, all of them agree that these patterns are not final and deviation from these patterns is possiblein different circumstances. For example, wh questions can have rising tone while requesting forrepetition of some information. Regarding the use of question tags, change in tone is possible in bothways, depending on the attitude of the speaker (Tench 1996, Roach 2000):

3. │They are coming on ↓ Tuesday │↓aren’t they │

4. │They are coming on ↓Tuesday │↑aren’t they │(Roach 2000, p. 197)

The rising tone in (3) reflects a lesser degree of certainty as compared to (4) which is more certain.Roach points out that there is overlap between attitudinal and grammatical functions of intonation.

Based on the speech analysis of newsreaders’ speech, Brown (1997) indicates certain tendencies in theuse of intonation. She claims that speakers put the subject phrase of sentence into a tone group, and putthe predicate phrase of sentence into one tone group unless the phrase is particularly long (p. 92):

5. │ The ↑ forecasters │say that much of ↑ England and ↑ Wales will be cloudy and ↓wet│

6. │The ↑ building employers │say that and the ↑ union │ are still ↓ meeting│

She says that the most general and important function of tone group division must be seen to be themarking off of coherent syntactic structures which the listeners must process as unit. Tonality, divisionin spoken discourse in separate intonation units, corresponds to a clause and this can be taken as a basic

65 │ = tone unit boundary; ↑ = a rising tone beginning on the underlined syllable (either a rise or a rise-fall); ↓= falling tone beginning on the underline syllable; underlined syllables are tonic.




pattern (Halliday 1970). Tench (1996), Brown (1997) and Roach (2000) also believe that tone-unitboundary placement can also indicate grammatical structure to the listeners where they can understandthrough the speaker’s placement of intonation:

7. │The conservatives who like the proposals │are ↓ pleased│

8. │The conservatives │ who like the proposals │are ↓ pleased│(Roach 2000, p. 196)

The division of tone groups distinguishes the meaning between (7) and (8): the former suggests someconservatives who are pleased while the latter suggests that all of them are pleased. However,interpretation of this type of speech also depends on the shared knowledge of context. Brown (1997)also points out that tonic syllables mark the last lexical word of the tone group (p. 95). Tench (1996)calls this tendency neutral tonicity to have the tonic syllable within the last lexical item in the intonationunit. However he specifies that the last item “must be the lexical item, not a grammatical item, not eventhe last word” (p. 57):

9. │A new plan │ to boost British cheeses │ is announced │66

10. │The building employers │and the union │ are still meeting│(Brown 1997, p. 5)

In contrast to neutral tonicity, Tench (1996) also talks about marked tonicity which is mostly used toconvey contrasts:

11. │It’s not what I think │ but what you think │

12. │That’s what you’re exporting │ and we’re importing │(Tench 1996, p. 62)

Bowler& Parminster (1992 in Cauldwell & Hewings 1994, p. 328) observe that in lists the intonationalways goes down on the last item (to show that the list is finished), and up on all the items that comebefore the last (to show that there is more to come).

13. │ I bought a ↑ shirt │ a ↑ tie │ and some ↓ trousers │(Bowler& Parminster 1992, p. 30)

Another grammatical significance of intonation is the choice of tonic syllables (Roach 2000). By shiftingtonic stress from one group, or word, to the other a statement can be turned into a question. Roachbelieves that such a shift of tone is quite acceptable in some dialects of English. He gives example of avariety of American English which may ask a question like this:

14. (Why do you want to buy it now?) │The ↑ price is going up│(Roach 2000, p. 196)

But he argues that British speakers would more likely to ask the question like this:

15. (Why do you want to buy it now?) │’Is67 the ↑ price is going up││(Roach 2000, p. 197)

Tonicity is the syllable made prominent by a combination of pitch, volume and length within anintonation unit (Tench 1996). Tench claims that a change in tonicity, or in the tonic, also changes thefocus of information while the tonality may remain constant. For example look at the followingsentences with the shift of tonicity in an intonation unit where tonality remains constant. For example:

16. │This book is ↓mine│


66 Underlined words indicate the tonic syllables.67 ‘ = stressed word





19. │This book is ↑mine│

In the above example, (16) refers to speaker’s focus on informing that this particular book is his/hers,not the others. In (17) shift of the tonic to the book shows that the speaker expresses the possession ofthe book only, and showing no concern with other items possibly present there. In (18) the speaker mightbe referring to the fact that the book might have belonged to someone else in past but now it is his/hers.Finally the statement (19) expresses some sort of clarification that this book is his/hers, not anyoneelse’s. Some other interpretations still might be possible. Looking at the rise and fall of tone in the aboveexample, it can be observed that all the statements most probably have a falling tone except the last onewhich has a rising tone. The speaker uses the same tonality but shifts tonic stress by raising his/her pitch,stress and volume. In (19), there is a greater possibility that the speaker would increase the length of thesound ‘mine’. This confirms Tench’s (1996) claim that within a given intonation unit, tonic shift mightvary to correspond to the speaker’s focus.

Regarding the use of adjunct in a clause, Tench (1996) observes that shift of intonation from the adjunctto the other lexical item also changes the message. For example:

20. │ They didn’t come happily│(i.e. not in a happy mood)

21. │ They didn’t come happily │ (i.e. ‘I am happy to say that …’) (Tench 1996, p. 71)

In written mode, the difference can be conveyed by putting a comma after come in (21) but in speech,only intonation can distinguish the difference in meaning.

Halliday (1970) suggests five simple and two compound tones and claims that falling contour meanscertainty with regards to yes or no and it is, therefore, neutral tone for declarative clauses, and forinterrogative clauses of the WH-type. He concludes that “falling pitch means polarity known and risingpitch means polarity unknown give clue to the meaning of the tones which change direction” (p. 23).He also claims that tone 5, rising-falling tone, makes statements that are rather assertive, implying ‘howcould you doubt that, or not know?’ Tone 3, he believes is a “sort of compromise between a fall and arise, expressing not so much uncertainty as some form of dependence or incompleteness” (p. 24). Healso gives sets of clauses which can be related through various combinations of tones such as “twoindependent facts, tones 1 & 1; one fact incomplete without the other, tones 3 & 1; one factcircumstantial to the other fact, tones 4 & 1, or 1 & 4” (p. 30).

So far I have reviewed some major grammatical functions of intonation which can be summarised asunder:

· Yes/no questions end with rising tone whereas wh questions end with a falling tone. Questiontags in sentences can vary according to the attitude and knowledge of speaker.

· Tonality corresponds to a clause: subject phrase and predicate phrase occur in separate tonegroups; tone-unit boundary is marked through intonation to indicate grammatical structure

· Tonic syllables mark the last lexical word of the tone group.

· In lists the intonation always goes down on the last item.

· A statement can be changed into sentence by shifting tonic stress.

· Change in tonicity changes the focus of information as well.

· Shift of intonation from the adjunct to the other lexical item changes the message.




· Certain tones have certain functions and can be used in various combinations to coincide variousclause sequences.

I will discuss and comment on these points in detail in the later part of this paper.

3. DISCOURSE FUNCTIONS OF INTONATION

Discourse intonation, developed by Brazil (1925 – 1995) at the University of Birmingham, incollaboration with Sinclair and Coulthard, introduces four major features to locate the functions ofintonation in speech. Contrary to the classical theory of intonation, discourse intonation rejects thepossibility of normal relationship between tone groups and clauses. Brazil (1997) suggests that the tonegroup in speech are not grammatically motivated rather required by moment-by-moment needs ofconveying message appropriately in the speaker’s preferred intentions. Discourse intonation introducesthree major features to locate speaker’s preferred meaning of speech.

3.1. The tone unit

Tone unit in discourse intonation is building blocks of speech which scaffolds the comprehension ofwhole message (Chapman 2007). Unlike grammatical model of intonation which looks at tone groupsand clauses occurring coincidently, discourse intonation model focuses on various intonation featureswithin the tone unit. Discourse intonation model locates a prominently toned item, lexical orgrammatical, in each tone group of speech. Brazil (1980, p. 39) mentions that making any wordprominent, whether lexical or not, constitutes a meaningful choice. He introduced the concept of tonicsegment which begins with the first prominent syllable and ends with the last prominent syllable:

The Tone Unit (Brazil 1980, p. 40)

Prominent words are called tonic syllables or the nuclear syllables and prominence is achieved byraising or lowering the pitch level on the tonic syllable. Brazil points out that tonic syllable reflects thespeaker’s judgement that the word in question contains matter which, at this time and in this context,will be informing. Look at the following example:

22. │the queen OF heart │

23. Which heart did you play?

│the QUEEN of heart │

24. Which queen did you play?

│the queen of HEART │ (Coulthard 1992, p. 40)




We can see in (23) and (24) that tonic syllable depends upon the context of interaction. Shift of tonefrom queen to heart is determined by the focus of information required by the listener. According todiscourse intonation, it is the knowledge of the context that is realised on the spot and speakers makedecision on the intonation pattern immediately.

3.2. Referring and proclaiming tones

Chapman (2007) claims that information conveyed in the tone units of speech can serve a speaker’spurpose either to convey something that the listener is already of aware, or the speaker may beintroducing some new information. In Brazil (1980; 1997) we find five tones which speakers use toindicate their intonational moods:

i. The Fall

ii. The Fall-Rise

iii. The Rise-Fall

iv. The Rise

v. The Level

These tones are realised in speech through the varying pitch at the tonic syllable. The speaker’s selectionof a tone is determined by the fact what speaker knows about the listener’s expectations as well as givenand new information in speech. Neutral proclaiming tones (P tones) are falling tones which contain newinformation whereas neutral referring tones (R tones) are Fall-Rise which contain shared information.However, discourse intonation does consider some attitudinal factors in speech which are realisedthrough ‘plus tones’. Brazil (1980) exemplifies proclaiming and referring tone:

25. │r he’ll be v TWENTY in p ↓ AUGUST│68

26. │p he’ll be ↓ TWENTY in r v AUGUST│(Brazil 1980, p. 16)

In (25) the listener is told of when a mutual acquaintance will have his twentieth birthday, whereas in(26) the date is already known and the listener is told how old the acquaintance will be in August.Coulthard (1992) notices that the referring tones allow speakers to call on shared knowledge andopinions, which have not so far been verbalised in the conversation.

The concept in plus tones is same as that of shared or new information, but the pattern is modified wherethe plus proclaiming tone has a Rise-Fall pattern, and the plus referring tone is a Rise. Speakers tend touse plus tones when they are expressing some sort of dominance. Brazil (1980) observes that bychoosing the P + tones the speaker signals that s/he is simultaneously adding information to the commonground but also to his own store of knowledge (p. 56). It reflects feelings of surprise, horror etc. On theother hand R + tones indicate the speaker’s dominance in speech. Compare the following examples fromBrazil:

27. │p in the ↓ CUPboard│ (I assume you don’t have never known)

28. │r in the v CUPboard│(Where it always is)

29. │r + in the ↑ CUPboard│(Why don’t you ever remember?)

68 v = Fall-Rise




30. │p + in the ^ CUPboard│(I’m as surprised as you are…) 69 (Brazil 1980, p. 57)

In the above examples, (27) and (28) reflect new and shared information respectively, (29) showsspeaker’s dominance by using a rise rising tone that contains attitudinal expressions. On the other hand(30) contains expression of surprise through a plus proclaiming tone. Speakers tend to use level tonewhen the focus is on language, not on communication. Chapman (2007) notes that it happens eitherwhen the speaker is thinking hard about what to say or when the language being used does not serve acommunicative purpose but is formulaic.

3.3. High and low key

Key is variation in pitch at the first prominent syllable. It is signal of starting, or ending the speech.While defining High and low key, Chapman (2007) states that the communicative function of high keyin a tone unit is to signal that the utterance is different from what the listener may expect to hear, “andit typically co-occurs with the change of topic” (Brazil 1980, p. 65). On the other hand, the use of lowkey indicates that the utterance is just what the speaker is expecting to hear. Coulthard (1992) refers tothree levels of key choice:

· High Key contrastive

· Mid Key additive

· Low Key equative

He exemplifies the three levels by the following example:

31. │he GAMbled │ and LOST│

32. │he CAMbled│ and LOST│

33. │he GAMbled│ and LOST│

He explains that high key choice in (31) indicates an interaction-bound interaction between ‘gamble’and ‘lost’; perhaps the ‘he’ usually wins when gambles. The second mid key choice simply conveys themessage whereas the final low key choice indicates the expected outcome of gambling i.e. losing. It isnoteworthy, however, that high key can also be used to highlight and low key to parenthesiseinformation. To sum up, discourse intonation model is realised through five intonational moods andthree variations in the key positions. These features are determined moment by moment, according tothe situation and the context of shared and new information between the speaker and the listener.

4. DISCUSSIONS ON BOTH MODELS

A review of the two models shows that grammatical approach views syntax and language of the messageas primary concern whereas discourse approach perceives intonation with major concern overinteraction between the speaker and listener. Grammatical approach suggests that intonation is guidedby the syntactic structure while discourse approach believes that intonation guides listeners and speakersabout the information in process based on given and new information of the context. Brazil (1980)believes that restricting one tone unit per clause, tonic not falling on the last lexical item are meaningful

69 ^ = Rise-Fall




by contrast only whereas discourse model views intonation as “the carrier of context-specific, speaker-oriented meanings, which cross-cut the semantics of language system gratuitous” (p. 46).

The first major contrast between the two models is that grammatical model believes that tonalitycorresponds to a clause: subject phrase and predicate phrase occur in separate tone groups; tone-unitboundary is marked through intonation to indicate grammatical structure. In order to elaborate thecontrast in approach with discourse intonation, I would again quote Roach:

34. │The conservatives who like the proposals │are ↓ pleased│

35. │The conservatives │ who like the proposals │are ↓ pleased│(Roach 2000, p. 196)

In these examples, the focus is on the information. Speaker does not have much liberty to go beyondfrom these two versions and is left with only two possible versions of intonation, ending with a fallingtone. In (34) the message is that all the conservatives like the proposals and are pleased while (35)denotes that some conservatives like the proposals and they are pleased. However, we find a differentpicture if we analyse the same example from discourse approach. Discourse model claims that tonalityreflects the speaker’s judgement at this time and in this context:

(Who are pleased?)

36. │↓The conservatives who like the proposals │are V pleased│

This statement reflects that listeners know someone is pleased but do not know who they are. Thespeaker uses proclaiming tone to give new information with referring tone at the shared information.

How are conservatives, who like the proposal, feeling?)

37. │ V The conservatives who like the proposals │are ↓ pleased│

In this case, the situation is reverse where the speaker informs potential listeners about the feelings ofalready known conservatives and their liking the proposal is shared between the speaker and thelisteners.

(Are all the conservatives pleased?)

38. │ V The conservatives │who like the proposals │are ↓ pleased│

In this sentence the intonation pattern suggests that the speaker is informing on which conservatives arepleased i.e. only those who like the proposals. The high key at the second tonic group indicates theemphasis on the nomination of selected pleased conservatives.

(How are conservatives feeling?)

39. │ V The conservatives │who like the proposals │are ^ pleased│

Use of low key is used to parenthesise the information of liking the proposals. If we add proclaimingplus tone to the last tonic group, it will suggests that the speaker is surprised at the conservatives whos/he believes cannot be pleased with the proposal, or with anything on the earth.

These examples, and many other possibilities, denote that discourse intonation is more flexible and withwider variety of expressions to communicate the more exact message. Intonation patterns are at thediscretion of speakers’ judgment who decide on the spot based on their contextual knowledge, and noton the basis of syntactic structures. Discourse intonation varies its intonation pattern from clause toclause and is more flexible in shaping and reshaping its tone groups according to the context.




Another aspect of grammatical approach is that it claims that change in tonicity, or the tonic, alsochanges the focus of information while the tonality may remain constant (Tench 1996). On the otherhand discourse intonation also suggests that the speaker’s selection of a tone is determined by the factwhat the speaker knows about the listener’s expectations as well as given and new information in speech.Both of these viewpoints are similar but with a minor difference. In order to elaborate, I would refer topreviously given example (16 – 19):

│This book is ↓mine│ (not that one)

│This book is ↓mine│ (but pen is yours)

│This book is ↓mine│ (still my belonging)

│This book is ↑mine│ (not yours)

From grammatical angle, speaker has limited choice available within the given framework ofgrammatical model. The question is whether the speaker would come across only these four situationsin life? On the contrary discourse intonation, again, provides more varied as well as realistic choices tocope with a number of real life situations. Apart from the above four possibilities discourse intonationcan offer the followings as well:

│ p + this book is ^ mine│ (A precious book – how lucky I am to have this book)

│ r + this book is ↑ mine│ (Why don’t/can’t you understand…)

│This book is MINE│ (and you can’t have it)

│This book is mine│ (but of course you can borrow it).

│This book is MINE│ (everybody should know this moment onward)

Discourse intonation gives more weight to contextual signals as well as interaction not only between thespeaker and listeners but also their individual interaction with the circumstances. It also denotes thatdiscourse intonation has potential of incorporating the features of other approaches when and wherenecessary. Similarly, grammatical model claims that intonation on question tags can vary according tothe attitude and knowledge of speaker. Discourse intonation serves this purpose through using plus tonesand does not confine speakers to using a set pattern of intonation rather gives them liberty to manipulateit according to the necessity.

Referring to Halliday’s (1970) five simple and two compound tones, Brazil (1980) says that Halliday’stone 3 usually means r + tone with termination lower than key but Halliday takes no account of therelative pitch of tone 3. Further to Halliday’s reference to neutral tone to assertive statements and whquestions, Brazil responds that it is not necessary to argue about whether the two types of questions aremore usually associated with rising or falling tone because proclaiming and referring tones areapplicable independently to both types. However, since questions are more likely to be asked bydominant speakers, r + tone is more common.

Grammatical model asserts that tonic syllable must be a lexical item, not grammatical whereas indiscourse model of intonation tonic syllable can be lexical or grammatical. Brazil (1980) believes thatmaking any word prominent, whether lexical or not, constitutes a meaningful choice. It is logical becausewhen speakers want to communicate, their concern is always which item (lexical or grammatical) isimportant to convey the message, and not the selection of lexical items to communicate in their preferredway. The concept of tonic segment, instead of tone group is more convincing in the sense that it doesnot restrict the speakers to oscillate between lexical and grammatical items, rather to focus on the making




the focal item prominent within the tonic segment. Brazil (1980, pp. 38–50) maintains that tone unitboundaries are not of great importance. Intonation is carried by the tone segment, which is unitary bynature, and whose boundaries are perfectly clear. During an utterance, speaker’s natural attention is onprominent syllables of utterance in tone segment, rather than distinguishing lexical or grammaticalitems.

5. PEDAGOGIC IMPLICATIONS OF BOTH APPROACHES

Teaching of grammatical model of intonation is not new in language classroom as compared to theteaching of discourse model. Use of grammatical model might have been more popular because of itsconvenience of clear rules and neat divisions of tone groups. As happens in teaching of deductivegrammar, teacher and learners feel psychologically satisfied with a sense of achievement, andgrammatical model is not an exception. Explanation of intonation rules under this model seem to suggestthat learners would acquire it in spoken language as well. However, when learners use intonationpractically in spoken language, the confusing phase begins and learners seem to be lost in the maize ofclauses and tone groups, if they have been taught intonation through grammar model and they areconsciously focusing on their intonation pattern. Distinction among clauses, lexical and grammaticalitems, tone groups and tonic words becomes not only difficult but also boring. Speaking a foreignlanguage with full attention to such details, in addition to searching for vocabulary and structures, isstressful and too demanding. For these reasons intonation is considered one of the most difficult areasin spoken language.

Mostly ELT textbooks imply that the intonation is the direct result of the syntax but Brazil (1980)believes that it is possible to imagine contexts in which intonation patterns are reversed. I tend to agreewith him when he logically proposes that the learner must be able to assign intonation to an utterance,and must be able to discover why what he produces is inappropriately or possibly ill-formed (pp. 124).This goal cannot be achieved if intonation is taught within grammatical or attitudinal framework.Haycraft (1971) exemplify this through a dialogue which proves that teaching intonation on attitudinallines creates an artificial expression, away from real life. Even after four decades, the same fact existsin a number ELT textbooks in various parts of the world. Brazil (1980) critics such practice by pointingout that teaching certain attitudes through intonation do not necessarily communicate right message.

Likewise, teaching intonation by following grammatical model is not much effective because learnerstry to derive meaning from the relationship of structural and tonic units, instead of information structurethat is based on situational knowledge. In grammatical model learners are forced to move in a pre-determined way, instead of concluding from the situation. This discussion, however, should not suggestthat grammatical model is not useful at all. As I mentioned earlier, one big advantage of grammaticalmodel is that it give neatly distinguished and defined rules for basic understanding. Therefore, beginningwith grammatical model might be a good strategy as teachers and learners may feel safer with knownand traceable facts, instead of interpreting and inferring from the context to communicate. However, therules which the grammatical model suggests have limited validity. They do not correspond to the widevariety of linguistic needs of everyday life. They focus on the structure that exists within the frameworkof syntax and the grammatical structures. Therefore, this model does not work in a number of cases (seeThompson 1995; Cauldwell & Hewings 1996). The principles of the grammatical model of intonationare logical and easier to teach and learn as compared to that of the discourse model. However, teachersneed to be cautious in explaining these principles of intonation in order learners may not take them foruniversal rules of intonation.




Intonation taught artificially seems to be challenging because intonation is determined by the messageand in classroom activities speakers are so conscious of intonation – rise and fall, syllable stress andpitch range – that they cannot focus on message to use intonation appropriately. However, Brazil (1980)takes this aspect of classroom setting as an advantage, and suggests that repetitions can have an effecton intonation either by citing utterances, or by repeating the utterances from p to r +. He gives a specimenoutline for teaching of intonation as means of communication, and giving signals to listeners of the topicunder discussion. He describes nine stages for teaching intonation and anticipates that many learnerswill not go beyond the seventh stage of “recognition of termination” (p. 133). Brazil (1994) also givesa complete course of intonation called Pronunciation for Advanced Learner of English (PALE). PALEfocuses on linguistic terminology and transcription system because Brazil believes that the “best way ofpinning down the otherwise elusive nature of intonation and so avoiding the vagueness that can so easilyundermine one’s confidence when working with it” (1994, p. 5). It encourages autonomous learning bygiving learners opportunity to discover the rules themselves before they are explained by the teacher.

As I mentioned earlier, discourse intonation, despite having fascinating and convincing features, is notvery simple for classroom implementation. In the discourse model, Brazil (1980) confesses that it is noteasy to distinguish the boundaries of tonic segments from proclitic and enclitic segments. Moreover,identifying falling and rising tones, distinction between high and low key, recognising prominentsyllables are not as neat and simple as they look on paper. Even native speakers sometimes are not ableto recognise these variations in language (Chapman 2007). He reports that such failure in languageclassroom is frustrating for both students and teachers when right tone cannot be identified even aftergetting the correct answer. However, these complications should not reduce the significance of thediscourse model rather should encourage the linguists to cope with the challenge of teaching intonationmore effectively.

Another problem in teaching the discourse model of intonation is distinguishing between given and newinformation. Dalton and Seidlhofer (1994) point out that the discourse model of intonation containscertain features which are delicately distinctive, and might be demanding on learners’ part. It is not easyfor learners to judge new and given information while conversing in a foreign language. Jenkins (2004)also notes that particularly problematic area in teaching of discourse intonation is “the assessment ofnew or given status and corresponding assignment of tone” (p. 3). I have already mentioned above inthis section that using foreign language with a focus on structure, vocabulary, grammar and accuracy aswell as other phonological features, working on discourse model is equally demanding as it is on othermodels of intonation.

6. CONCLUSION

This paper discussed the major characteristics of grammatical and discourse model of intonation andmade a comparative discussion on both. In my discussion I have maintained that the grammatical modelis useful for basic understanding of the concepts of intonation. However it does not fit into a variety ofsituation in real life. Though all the models of intonation have their own validity in their own way, thediscourse model of intonation is more convincing because of its wider scope, more flexibility and beingmore communicative in function. On one hand, it is not advisable to concentrate on any previous modelsin isolation which are not comprehensive to encompass all varieties and possibilities of real lifecommunication, solely relying on the discourse model might not be a wise strategy as well. Some majorproblems related to this model, discussed above, cannot be ignored because they potentially can, anddo, cause frustration among learners when identifying tones, pitch, high and low key becomes difficult,rather sometimes irritating because of repetitions of utterances. Teachers need to consider a balanced




approach by not abandoning the previous approaches and smoothly as well as wisely incorporating newtechniques and strategies of introducing discourse model of intonation.

REFERENCES

Bowler, B & Parminster, S 1992, ‘Headway Pre-Intermediate Pronunciation’ In R Cauldwell & MHewings, ELT Journal, vol 50, no. 4, pp. 327 – 334.

Brazil, D 1980, ‘Discourse intonation and language teaching’, Longman, Essex.

Brazil, D 1994, ‘Pronunciation for advanced learners of English (Teacher's Book)’, CambridgeUniversity Press, Cambridge.

Brazil, D 1997, ‘The communicative value of intonation in English’, Cambridge University Press,Cambridge.

Brown, G 1997, ‘Listening to spoken English’, Pearson Education, Essex.

Cauldwell, R. & Hewings, M 1996, ‘Intonation rules in ELT textbooks’, ELT Journal, vol 50, no.4, pp. 327 – 334.

Celce-Murcia, M 1996, ‘Teaching Pronunciation: A Reference for Teachers of English toSpeakers of Other Languages’, Cambridge University Press,

Chapman, M 2007, ‘Theory and practice of teaching discourse intonation’. ELT Journal, vol. 61no. 1, pp.1 – 9.

Coulthard, M, 1992 ‘The significance of intonation in discourse’, In Advances in spoken discourseanalysis. M Coulthard (ed), Routledge, London.

Coupler_Kohlen, E 1986, ‘An introduction to English prosody’, Edwards Arnold (Publishers) Ltd,London.

Dalton, C and Seidlhofer, B 1994, ‘Pronunciation’, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Halliday, MAK 1970, ‘A course in spoken English: intonation ’, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Haycraft, B 1971, ‘The teaching of pronunciation’, Longman, London.

Roach, P 2000, ‘English phonetics and phonology’, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Jenkins, J 2004, ‘Research in teaching pronunciation and intonation’, Annual Review of AppliedLinguistics, vol. 24, pp. 109 – 125.

Rost, M 1990, ‘Listening in Language Learning’, Longman, Harlow.

Tench, P 1996, ‘The intonation system’, Cassell, London.

Thompson, S 1995, ‘Teaching intonation on questions’, ELT Journal, vol. 49 no. 3, pp. 235 – 243.




EXPERIMENTAL TRIAL OF STUDENT CREATIVITY FORMING

TECHNIQUES DURING AESTHETICS LESSONSDaiga Kalēja-Gasparoviča, Irina Direktorenko

Riga Teacher Training and Educational Managament Academy, Imantas 7 līnija 1, Riga, Latvia

Abstract

Nowadays the notion of creativity is connected to both human individual progress and socialdevelopment. The results of creativity are innovative and provide a contribution to social development:education, culture, industries and many other practical spheres of life. Creative activity and stereotype-free thinking are considered to be the basis of social and economic innovation development.

Key words: artistic creativity, visual art and music curriculum, teacher education.

INTRODUCTION

The concept of creativity development has become significant to the human being in all age categories;it includes solving creativity problems in various life situations and spheres of activity. Creative activityis s mentioned in the report of the International Commission of the UNESCO among the pre-requisitesof education and sustainable social development of the 21st century: the social value is personality withfree will-power and capable of fully realize/ express him/ herself (UNESCO, 1998); likewise, adocument of the European Commission mentions creativity in the context of life-long learning,creativity and innovation (European Commission, 2010).

The European Commission work programme “Lifelong learning for knowledge, creativity andinnovation - Education and Training 2010 work programme”, which is based on research, also confirmsthe importance of arts facilitation. It determines the availability of cultural and arts studies anddemocratic character: to facilitate access to arts education on all levels and age categories, to facilitateartistic awareness and artistic activity. It is especially stressed that it is important to include permanentarts courses as a part of lifelong learning process in school and vocational arts education, as well aslifelong learning education programs, in order to facilitate personal creativity in all age categories(European Parliament, 24.03.2009. Resolution on arts studies in EU).

It points out to the necessity of developing such a visual arts education process which allows studentsto get engaged irrespective of their artistic talents; whereby students’ creativity is facilitated, which inits turn facilitates the flexible perception of professional challenges and the versatile possibilities ofpersonal life among the students, future teachers.

Research problem is the facilitation of students’, future teachers’, creativity in the studies of visual artsat a higher education institution, thereby discovering the personal activity approach studying visual artsas an opportunity which is significant for students on a personal level.

The contemporary significance is determined by:

· A contradiction between the existing deliberate need of the individual in the society and at thesame time the current students’ normative process of visual arts education;




Goal of the research: to develop a procedural model of obtaining arts and carry out empirical tests ofits impact and effectiveness in the studies of students’ creativity facilitation.

Type of research

Considering the subjectivity of research topic, an interpretive approach was chosen, which can becharacterized by the significance assigned to the understanding of human subjective experience andindividual activity in a concrete environment and which is well suited for procedural structural researchof activity (Mayring, 2001). To test the hypotheses proposed by the dissertation quantitative qualitativeresearch was carried out (Kroplijs, Raščevska, 2005). The research makes use of retrospective/ex postfacto design.

The methods:

Data collection methods

· Survey of students-future teachers’ of a higher education institution;

· Direct observation and situational analysis of students-future teachers’ creative activity in arts;

· Analysis of students’ creative work according to the criteria established;

· Content analysis of teacher’s and students’ cooperation reflections;

Data processing and analysis methods

· statistical analysis of quantitative data: Descript Statistic, One-Sample Kolmogorov-SmirnovTest, Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test, Paired Samples Statistics, Friedman Test, Crosstabulation(SPSS 19.0 environment);

· content analysis of qualitative data.

Research basisThe research has been carried out at Riga Teacher training and Educational management Academy. Itengaged twelve hundred (1200) students studying full- and part-time, acquiring the programs ofprofessional pedagogy: primary school teacher with the right to teach one subject at lower secondaryschool and primary school teacher.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Procedural approach to modeling pedagogic activity in education, in accordance with theories onpersonal action and personally significant activity (Vygotsky, 1978; Леонтьев, 1998), learning is areciprocal enrichment of experience in studies, purposeful and motivated activity, the productivity ofwhich is determined by students’ individual abilities, personal significance and meaning. Students’purposeful activities are based in such components of the concept of learning as emotions, motives,interest and needs. In cooperation with the teacher the student in a creatively organized pedagogicenvironment get actualized experience and developed motivation (Vygotsky, 1978; Леонтьев, 1998).According to the theoretical propositions of the concept of personal activity a model of pedagogiccooperation in arts education is developed (see Picture 1).

Students’ creativity facilitating content of arts education, according to the principles of systemicconstructivist pedagogy the educational content includes professional, individual and contextualspheres, which reveals the wholeness of the concepts of arts, personality and life in artistic creative




activity (Лeoнтъeв, 1998; Helds, 2006). The holistic character of creative activity includes the unity ofobjective and subjective components, in which the subjective components are connected with student’sneeds, motives, freedom and personally significant activity (Леонтъев, 1998, Выготский, 1991). In theaspect of creativity development the student feels freedom, autonomy, accepts his/her individuality as avalue, confidence in own abilities, in this way his/her self-acceptance is developed.

Students’ creativity facilitating pedagogic activity in arts education, in accordance with the humanisticapproach, emotional blockage hinders the individual from expressing creativity (Maslow, 1973),because emotions are more positive, because particular activity is more important for the student(Леонтъев, 1998). According to the process approach in creativity development (Runco, 2009;Csikszentmihalyi, 2002) discoveries and experiments, games, development of original ideas (Starko,2010), the sensation of flow during inspiration and creative process (Csiksentmihalyi, 2002) facilitatesstudents’ joy in the process. According to the basic propositions of the theories of activity and humandevelopment in activity (Леонтъев, 1998) learning is a reciprocal enrichment in horizontal and verticalcooperation in the acquisition of visual arts education in the pedagogic process (see Table 2); purposefulmotivated activity the productivity of which is determined by the individual qualities, personalsignificance and meaning (Выготский, 1991; Леонтъев, 1998). According to the propositions ofconstructivist approach regarding the principles of educational organization student’s learning is anactive creative activity and co-responsibility in the learning process - students’ self-regulation, self-esteem, autonomy, self-expression and self-development (Helds, 2006); the role of the teacher keepschanging – from the dominant of the study process it becomes into the organizer, supporter, motivatoran observer of students’ learning (Helds, 2006).

Personal activity approach to the acquisition of arts education, in accordance with personal activityapproach, which is oriented towards learning and interaction, (Выготский, 1991; Леонтьев, 1998) artseducation process at a higher education institution facilitating students’ creativity is defined aspurposefully organized, personally significant, ongoing student-teacher interaction, during whichstudents’ creative self-expression is facilitated which is directed at the facilitation of students’ creativity(Kalēja-Gasparoviča, 2012). According to the constructivism approach the teacher ensures a systematiccreative dialogue in cooperation with students in the pedagogic process of acquisition of arts educationfacilitating their purposefulness, self-image, freedom and flexibility (see Table 3).

Students’ creativity facilitation in arts education, empiric test. In order to test the hypotheses, thefollowing objectives have been set:

1. To test, how in the pedagogic process of arts education the teacher ensures a systematic creativedialogue in a horizontal and vertical cooperation, facilitating students’ sense of purpose, self-image,freedom and flexibility;

2. To explore, how arts educational content acquired on basis of goal-oriented perception influencestudents’ creative activities and discover positive changes in students’ creativity;

3. To analyze students’ reflections about the process of arts education as a value, in the process ofartistic creative self-expression.

As the objective of the empiric research was to research the changes in creativity in real-time studyprocess in accordance to creativity criteria developed and defined in the theoretical part of the research,a concurrent mixed methods design was developed for the research, which foresees an equal collectionof quantitative and qualitative data (Huber, 2004).




Picture 1. Model of pedagogic activity in arts education




Table 2

Teachers’ and students’ cooperatation in arts education

The stages ofarts educationorganization

The indicator oeffectiveness ofarts educationacquisition

Cooperation in pedagogic activity

Teacher’s activity Students’ activity

Psychologicalpreparedness

Emotional liberation,openness for a new experience, interestin the upcomingactivity, a need toachieve the goal

Liberate and developemotions, explain the task,set criteria for action

Positive experience of theexpected artistic creativeactivity, self-acceptance,setting a subjective goal

Practicalpreparedness

Previously acquiredexperience, changeof stereotypes, views

Offer to the student achoice of objectivecomponents of action –topic, content, creativeprocess, visual andtechnical means, artmeaning, Support in theenrichment of new creative experiences

Acquisition of planning skills,analysis of experience, choiceof artistic and technical means

Realization ofcooperation

Acquisition of visualarts in holistic artisticcreative activity

Personal experience,creative approach to thesituation, use of stimuli,pedagogic guidance.Guidance of creativedialogue

Students’ self-expression.Learning oneself, expressingone’s emotions, feelings,experiences, discover newindividual abilities, interests, needs, values. Enrichingindividual creative experience,facilitating changes of creativityin the student’s personality –purposefulness, self-image,freedom, flexibility

Reflection andresults

Self-acceptance,awareness of thecreative potential,motivation of furtherartistic action

Organization of individualand dialogic reflection.

Artistic creative workassessment of thecreative process and its practicalresult, self-assessment

Table 3




Teacher’s functions in arts education

Function Action

Facilitator and

organizer of activity

· Urge students to take personally significant action, plan creativecooperation

· Organize artistic creative activity

Coordinator, supporter · Facilitate student’s acquisition of visual arts in holistic artistic creativeactivity

· Facilitate students’ artistic creative activity

· Coordinate and ensure creative dialogue in vertical and horizontalcooperation

· Student-student; student-teacher

Supervisor, motivator · Guide students’ reflection in order to analyze artistic creative processand results

· Facilitate students’ artistic creative activity

Evaluator · Help to formulate students’ creative development

· Organize students’ reflection

· Assess the work done, including the self-assessment

The strategy of the research is to compare, how students’ creativity change in the process of visual artseducation, combining quantitative and qualitative research methods (Kroplijs, Račevska, 2004). Theexternal validity of the research is ensured by the fact that it was implemented in real-time study processin the frames of a study program, observation during the study course, assessment of artistic creativework and discussion about the assessment as well as the use of content analysis for the analysis ofstudents’ reflections on creative self-expression development – for data analysis. The inner validity ofthe research is ensured by quantitative data obtained in a survey about the significance of visual arts instudents’ perspective and statistical test of changes in students’ creativity in real-time study process inaccordance with the creativity criteria.

Research selection development. The research was carried out at Riga Teacher Training andEducational Management Academy and it involved twelve hundred (1200) students of full- and part-time studying to obtain professional pedagogy programs – primary school teacher with the right to teachone subject at lower secondary school and primary school teacher. As the strategy of the dissertation isto compare, how students’ creativity changes in the process of arts education in real-time study courseclasses, a selection of the sample was not made. All the students taking part in the study course of Artisticcreative self-expression in art.

Analysis of questionnaire results. The analysis of difference results between students’ attitude towardsart and its meaning in the beginning and in the end of classes in the first year of the research,demonstrated (Wilcoxon’s test) that significant change (p < 0,05), if specifically significant ones are notstressed, very significant (p= 0,001) and highly significant (p= 0,000) change, show in 32 out 43




measurements. As a result it has been concluded that after the class significance is attached to art asenvironment surrounding the human being. There was no significant change in the comprehensionof art as self-expression; averagely significant indicators were M=3,26 (before class) and M=3,29 (afterclass). As a result it has been concluded that after the class painting as assessment of individualdevelopment opportunity was changed significantly – M=1,75 and M=3,08 (after classes).

A tendency is observed: an increased understanding among students of visual art usefulness in variousspheres of profession activity and life. Questionnaire (after class) results allow to state that the changein students’ attitude towards visual art demonstrated the limitation and opportunity tendencies of thepedagogic process of visual art education acquisition. The observed tendency demonstrates thatpersonally significant activity in the acquisition of visual art education facilitates self-awareness, worldcognition, motivation, which characterizes such students’ creativity components as openness for newexperiences and interest in new experiences. It has been concluded: the more personally significant isstudents’ activity in the acquisition of art education, the more distinct is the facilitation of students’purposefulness, self-image, freedom and flexibility. It has provided an opportunity to clarify thedeveloped art education acquisition model in students’ creativity facilitation cycle and make necessarychanges to the methodic of classes. As a result of the questionnaire the tendencies of students’ creativityfacilitation in art education have been stated.

Analysis of observation and situation, demonstrates quantitative data analysis and its correspondenceto students; creativity criteria: purposefulness, self-image, freedom, flexibility/ multiplicity of ideas – tothe analysis of change dynamics (progressive or regressive). The quantitative data drawn together forthe test of hypotheses and their statistical analysis is supplemented by qualitative descriptions ofstudents’ statements and their content, non-verbal expressions (mimic, gestures, poses), behavior (quick– slow engagement into the conversation, does not engage in to conversation).

Performing the comparison of observation results according to Friedman’s test dependent selectionresults, which were obtained in several research stages, significant differences were observed (p<0,05),as well as a high average range at the end of the class in all research years in all criteria and indicators.A common result tendency of the research has been noticed; students’ artistic creativity positive changedynamics, which confirms the hypothesis proposed in the dissertation. The results ranging from 1-1,5points can be defined as low; from 1,6-2,5 – as medium; 2,6-3 – as high (see Table 4).

Table 5 demonstrates, how different respondents’ attitude towards creativity in art education in thebeginning and end of the course. These differences clarified the theoretically justified model of arteducation acquisition and enabled the improvement the structure of pedagogic cooperation in arteducation. It can be concluded that previously acquired experience contradicts with creativityfacilitation. In the analysis of students’ statements and their content, for example, in order to describethe situation, one criterion position was chosen, which characterizes students’ creativity.




Table 4

Observation criteria and arithmetic average indicator of

students’ artistic creativity (M)

Criterion, indicator/research

year,

Measurement stage

(s –beginning; b-end)

1. 2. 3. 4.

s b s b s b s b

Purposefulness: Openness for

New experience

1,61 1,82 1,66 1,98 1,65 1,99 1,67 1,92

Interest in new experience 1,64 1,86 1,66 2,06 1,68 2,06 1,69 1,98

Satisfaction with process

activity and result

1,61 1,97 1,67 2,18 1,64 2,17 1,70 2,10

Self-image: Accepting oneself

asa value

1,49 2,07 1,58 2,27 1,52 2,28 1,64 2,36

Self-esteem 2,06 2,46 2,08 2,50 2,08 2,50 2,06 2,55

Self-actualization 1,40 2,02 1,41 2,32 1,44 2,32 1,42 2,28

Freedom: Independence 1,43 2,15 1,44 2,36 1,46 2,39 1,46 2,29

Responsibility for the

consequences of idea

realization

1,43 2,14 1,47 2,38 1,46 2,37 1,47 2,23

Choice about work process

and means

1,46 2,11 1,48 2,38 1,50 2,38 1,49 2,02

Variety of ideas: flexibility of

thoughts and ideas

1,36 2,22 1,38 2,45 1,39 2,46 1,44 2,01

Originality in thinking and

behavior

1,36 2,26 1,38 2,43 1,40 2,44 1,42 2,00

Idea novelty 1,36 2,26 1,38 2,44 1,39 2,44 1,44 2,01




Table 5

Students’ statements and their content in relation to

creativity in a course of art education

CriteriaIndicators

Respondents in thebeginning of the study

course

Respondents in the end of the study course

Flexibility

Flexibility ofthoughts andideas

„At school we were made

to draw only free choice

drawings!”

“On musical we freely

express the thoughts and

we tell aboutassociations

which are caused in usby

a concrete piece ofmusic”

„I learned to act more creatively and not to be afraid to thinkdifferently. I felt that I could be myself and act freely. Therules of teacher’s game helped me to be brave and gie in towork”;

„I repeated about the color, it got a lot clearer about thetexture, the space. I discovered how compositions arecreated and ideas are generated. I understood that you needto trust the first impulse. I discovered that previously Ithought simplistic, there is no identical or correct thing innature, as if it would be measured. Nothing is as it seems atfirst sight. I discovered that looking and seeing is nit thesame. Each new action revealed something new to me and Ifelt that I discovered myself, saw differently and thoughtdifferently”.

“I at all didn't assume that is capable to compose melodieson the set text. Game on the synthesizer opened newopportunities for creativity- I learned to select styles tosongs.”

Originality inthinking andbehavior

„Would it be correct?”;

„I am kinda afraid to start

what that it does not go

as it should ?”;

„So how should it be in

visual art? How should it

be? ”

"It is important not to be

afraid to experiment in music -

everything that we create is

our own experience which

is unique and

it is important for everyone"

”I discovered that changing the visual language you canmake one composition in so many variations!”;

„I discovered how to blend colors, how to technically applythem in different ways I didn’t know back then about theshades. It turned out that you can paint without the blueskies and green grass. I discovered that applying the paintyou need not paint, but apply it with different strength. Timeflew so fast, but I wanted to do more. You can even workwith plasticine! Thank you for the opportunity of having agood time”.

„ Really we could create such remarkable musical composition? And as far as there

correspond to music these peculiar and original movements! ”

Idea novelty

„I drew cards for friends

because they come out

„Nothing was shown as it looks. Only the rules of the game.Everyone had interesting pieces. I even liked the plasticine, Ihated it before. Wire installations were interesting. It turned




nice”;

„I like to draw

Nature-scapes and give

them to others.”

„As it is difficult to think

out something new in music

but as it is interesting... I

very much like to change

texts of familiar songs – new

options and as though new

songs turn out.... ”

out that I can create a human figure. I understood that youneed to yield to the process ad you shouldn’t think if it isgoing to work or not. It will be useful in life, because youneed not get stressed while doing stuff”;

„There are no right or wrong compositions or colors, thereare different stories which they are telling. Surrendered tothe rules of the game and the work came out like a real pieceof art! Away with the uniform, boring! No white and black,but colorfully white. Away with stereotypes. I see and feelnow. How versatile are the ways of finding ideas! What Ilearned in this course will stay with me forever – both inwork and life”.

„ The best on musical lessons is that we in groups create incommon. Everyone has ideas, and as a result there issomething new, unlike on one of these ideas. Exactly so wehad a composition "Justice"

Assessing the dynamic of observation results, comparing the results of the research per year, it has beenconcluded that systematic creative dialogue in horizontal and vertical cooperation becomes a personallysignificant activity in the acquisition of visual art education; it liberates emotional experience; studentson basis of purposeful perception independently acquire art education content and artistic creative self-expression process as a value.

Analysis of students’ creative work is carried out in accordance with systemic constructivist arteducation content criteria: expressiveness, creativity and significance, which is expressed in students’creative work (art, music, composition, movements). Expressiveness: varied application of visual meansof expression, improved and familiar art language (visual elements and their significance); skilfultechnical solution, choice of materials and techniques in accordance with the idea. Creativeness:unusualness, uniqueness, oneness, originality (viewpoint, choice of means of expression andcombination, technical solution). Contrast – stereotype, pattern, copy. Significance: implementation ofart functions, according to the objective (cognition, depiction, transformation and/or assessment ofauthor’s personality or the outer world).

Work assessment includes the aspect of the process of creativity development, because students areinvolved in discussions, implementing creative dialogue in horizontal and vertical cooperation,implementing systemic constructivist content of visual art education – creation of artistic creative work(professional sphere – art), students’ self-expression (individual sphere – personality), contexts(interaction – life). Data obtained as a result of qualitative data analysis provide additional emotionalinformation, but this research section does not deliberate on that specifically. In compliance with thecriteria art work is assessed according to objective criteria which, from the viewpoint of the teacher, arean objectively subjective assessment. Implementing the statistical comparison of assessment results ofcreative work using Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test Paired Samples Statistics, significant differences(p<0,05) and increase of positive change in all research years in all criteria have been discovered.According to level qualities the indicators of the arithmetical average (M) has been explained in thefollowing way: 1,0 – 1,5: low level; 1,6 – 2,5: medium level; 2,6 – 3,0: high level.




Table 6

Students’ creative work analyses results

Criteria/research g.g.

(N=300 per year)

1. 2. 3. 4.

g.v g.b g.v g.b g.v g.b g.v g.b

Average indicator of the criterion (M)

Expressiveness 1,55 1,59 1,71 1,94 1,64 1,94 1,61 1,86

Creativity 1,63 1,80 1,71 1,99 1,71 1,99 1,64 1,92

Significance 1,75 2,02 1,76 1,99 1,67 1,97 1,87 2,03

Positive change of criteria results (indicators of positive range - pr) indicators of significant change - p

Expressiveness pr=49

p=0,00

pr=77

p=0,00

pr=91

p=0,00

pr=77

p=0,00

Creativity pr=59

p=0,00

pr=88

p=0,00

pr=84

p=0,00

pr=88

p=0,00

Significance pr=82

p=0,00

pr=86

p=0,00

pr=92

p=0,00

pr=60

p=0,00

M – average arithmetical indicator (Mean); g. – research year; v – measurement during classes, b –measurement after classes, p – significance <0,05 (indicator of significant change).

It has been concluded that in all three criteria the medium level dominates, a little higher than mediumlevel range is the significance criterion. In general a tendency is observed, that the assessment results ofcreative work are lower than the results of the observation, which showed the development of creativityin the study process.

Content analysis of teacher’s and student’s cooperation reflections, is to investigate students’experience in artistic creative self-expression. 90 content elements were distinguished, showingstudents’ creativity change in visual art education, the course of „Artistic creative self-expression inart”. Content elements were classified per category. The categories were developed based on students’creativity criteria: purposefulness, self-image, freedom, variety of ideas, distinguishing sub-categoriesin accordance to criteria indicators and classifying the content elements in compliance with thecharacteristics of a high or low level of creativity. Table 7 demonstrates the results intentionally assignedto one criterion position, which distinctly characterizes students’ creativity. From the point of view ofresearch problem it is crucially important for students to experience the process of art in artistic creativeself-expression as a value.

Assessing the frequency of categories, a tendency is observed: students’ reflections expressed most oftentouching upon the achievements in visual art education demonstrate a high level creativity, whichconfirms the author’s model of visual art education acquisition and the usefulness of the methods.




Purposefulness category demonstrates an often higher level of creativity; in the category of idea variety– the subcategories of flexibility of thoughts and ideas and originality in thinking and behavior; in thecategory of self-image – the subcategories of self-esteem and acceptance of oneself as a value. A highlevel creativity was demonstrated less often in the category of self-image, the sub-category of self-actualization; the category of freedom, subcategories of responsibility for the consequences of theimplementation and choice of work process and means; in the category of idea variety, sub-category ofidea novelty. It shoes the possible further directions of improvement for art education model andmethods.

Table 7

Criterion Variety of ideasFlexibility of thoughts and ideas

High level Medium level Low levelAbility to freely generate ideasand implement them practically

84 4 No ability to freely generate ideasand implement them practically

2

Ability to easily adapt to thenew situation

86 3 No ability to easily adapt to thenew situation

1

Characterized by a varietyof ideas

74 9 Not characterized by a varietyof ideas

7

Originality in thinking and behaviorHigh level Medium level Low levelflow 85 4 No flow 1dexterity 82 6 No dexterity 2Emotional liberation 89 1 No emotional liberation 0attractiveness, humor 82 7 No attractiveness, humor 1

Idea noveltyHigh level Medium level Low levelA new view on the applicationof things in life and usefulness

79 9 No new view on the applicationof things in life and usefulness

2

CONCLUSIONSIn the frames of the research was conducted confirming the possibilities for the solution of students’creativity as a pedagogic problem in teachers’ professional education, as well as developing and testinga procedural model for the facilitation of students-future teachers; creativity in art education acquisition.

1. It has been concluded by the research that students’ creativity positively changes in such arteducation process, which creates conditions for a creative dialogue in horizontal and verticalcooperation, as a result of which students’ purposefulness, self-image, freedom and flexibilityof thinking and behavior increases.

2. Ensuring the criteria of purposeful visual art education acquisition in pedagogic activity,students eel truly free and unlimited in art education.

3. It has been concluded that students’ creativity is implemented in artistic creative process throughart education process developing students’ perception.




4. Liberating students’ artistic creative self-expression in art education, their self-awareness isenabled; their motivation for artistic creativity is improved.

5. Ensuring the possibility for students to verbally reflect on the experience obtained in creativeactivity and its subjective meaning, they realize the creative process as study achievement andvalue.

REFERENCESCsikszentmihalyi, M. (2002). Flow: The Classic Work on How to Achieve Happiness, Rider, London314 p.Direktorenko, I., Kālēja-Gasparovica, D. (2012). Theoretical model of the development of the creativepotential of prospective teachers by means of the arts. 3rd Annual international conference. Education,research and development. Journal of International Scvientific Publications: Educational Alternatives,Volums 10, Part 3. Published by Info Invest Ltd, Bulgārija, www.sciencebg.net, published at http:www.scientific-publications.net. ISSN 1313-2571, 2012, Eiropean Union. (43- 58 p.)Helds, J. (2006). Mācīšanās kā konstruktīvs un sistēmisks jēdziens//No zināšanām uz kompetentudarbību. LU akadēmiskais pagāds, Rīga, 31 – 35 lpp. (in Latvian)Huber, G., L. (2004). AQUAD Six. Workshop. LU, Riga, 44 p.Kālēja-Gasparovica, D. (2012). Studentu radošuma veicināšana vizuālās mākslas studijās. Promocijasdarbs. Rīga, LUKroplijs, Raščevska (2004). Kvalitatīvās pētniecības metodes sociālajās zinātnēs. Rīga: RaKa, 178 lpp.(in Latvian)Maslow, H.A. (1973). Psychologie des Seins. Ein Entwurf//Kindler Verlag, München (in German)Mayring, P. (2001). Combination and Integration of Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis. Forum:Qualitative social research,http://www.qualitative-research.net.fgsRunco, M. A. (2009). Parsimonious Creativity and its Measurement. The International Conference „CanCreativity be Measured? ”.Starko, A. J. (2010). Creativityin the Classroom: Schools of Curious Delight, 4 th Ed. New York:Routledge.Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society. The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge:Harward University Press.Выготский Л. С. (1991). Воображение и творчество в детском возрасте. Москва: Просвещение,90 c. (in Russian)Леонтьев, Д. (1998). Bвeдениe в психологию искусства. Мocквa: Mocкoвcкий yнивepcитет,110 c.(in Russian)DocumentsUNESCO (1998). World Declaration on Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century: Vision andAction http://www.un-documents.net/wdhe21c.htmEiropas Parlaments (2010). Rezolūcija par mākslas studijām ES (in Latvian)Eiropas Kopienu komisija (2010). Mūžizglītība zināšanām, jaunradei un jauninājumiem, C 117 E/26Eiropas Savienības Oficiālais Vēstnesis 6.5. (in Latvian)




THE LITERAL HISTORICAL SENSE (PROPER AND FIGURATIVE)

IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURECătălin Vatamanu

Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Iaşi, 9, Cloşca Street, Iaşi 700066, Romania

Abstract

The biblical sense contains the truth that the Spirit of God has sent us by hagiographers throughlanguage. In the Holy Scripture we can identify two types of senses: one literal-historical, directlyexpressed through words, and one mediated, real-typical. An expressing only in the properly sense isvery rare, as the author tries often to express meanings beyond the words. But a specific mode ofexpressing can give to a literal statements more beauty, power, dynamics and plasticity. The figurativelyor tropic sense is met when the author expresses something indirectly, using related expressions bysense. The Church testifies through its patristic and liturgical treasure the universality and the unity ofliteral historical sense, the reality that the Scripture is revealed in its integrity, is the Word of God.

Keywords: Holy Scripture, biblical sense, proper sense, figurative sense, hyperbole, metaphor, symbol,comparison

1. THE CONCEPT OF SENSE1.1 CONCEPTUAL DELIMITATIONS

Through verbal (uttered or written word), paraverbal (intonation, intensity of the voice, rhythm etc.) andnonverbal (sign, mimic, posture etc.) language, man generates and transmits messages, his ownthoughts, feelings, intentions and meanings.

From an etymological point of view, the term sense (meaning) derives from the Latin sensus, -us, whichmeans “perception”, “feeling”, “understanding”, “reason”, “idea”, “meaning”, “signification”.

In the field of Biblical hermeneutics, “sense” or “meaning” is defined as “the elaborated product of thespirit, expressed through uttered or written words with the help of which it is communicated” (Scriban,1922, p. 14) or as „the author’s thinking or intention transmitted by the uttered or written word”(Basarab, 1997, p. 24).

The words are, in the first place, objective elements, for everybody to understand and use and secondly,they serve as means of communicating the meaning from one person to another, being directly connectedwith the subject which produces and expresses them. In the context of this premise, one must stress uponthe terminological delimitation between meaning and signification.

The meaning is the result of the author’s elaborated thinking process. Signification, on the other hand,is always fixed in the common language according to the general rules of the language. The dictionaryis the one which presents various significations of the words, independent from any person who wouldenunciate.

For example, the Hebrew verb !n:v' (shanan) has the significance „to sharpen” something (Koehler,1953, p. 998), especially swords and arrows (Deut. 32:41; Is. 5:28; Ps. 45:6; 120:4; Prov. 25:18). It is




used mainly in Qal, at Piel and Hitpoel. However, in Piel the verb has an intensive meaning: to educateearly, perseveringly and repeatedly. In this form, the verb is met only once, in Deut. 6:7, in the well-known text on the duty of educating the children:

^ÜT.b.viB. ~B'_ T'Þr>B;dIw> ^yn<ëb'l. ~T'än>N:viw>

`^m<)Wqb.W ^ßB.k.v'b.W* %r<D<êb; ^åT.k.l,b.W ‘^t,’ybeB.

„Thou shall instill (sow, in the authorized translation) them to your sons and speak about them whenyou are in your home, when are on the road, when you go to sleep, and when you wake up” (personaltranslation).

In this text, the meaning of the verb is “to stimulate”, “to sharpen”, and “to instill”. The Jerusalem Bibletranslates it, otherwise very correctly, by ”to repeat”. God instructs man by the formal education at homeand also by the informal education, through the everyday life. The theological meaning of this verb inPiel is that God’s messages penetrates deeply the soul and mind of the one who listens to it, it ”sharpens”his senses, makes him shine and be ready to throw away all the sins from his soul.

Used only by Saint Paul (Rom. 8, 15; Gal. 4, 5; Eph. 1, 5), the term ui`oqesi,a includes the idea of theblessing which the Incarnation of the Son of God offers us (John 17, 23), not due to our merit (Eph. 1,7), but through grace. Knowing very well the Roman law regarding adoptions, according to which anadopted person got all the privileges of a natural son, saint Paul transfers this lay signification in thetheological field, showing that the divine grace makes us “sons of God” in our own right (Rom. 8, 15-23, in parallel with I Pt. 1, 14) and, according to Saint John’s conviction, sons of the Church (II John 4).

The meaning differs from the usual signification and is revealed only after reading the sentence andfollowing the logical thread of the ideas expressed. The significance of a word is often multiple, whereasthe meaning takes only one significance, excluding all other possible ones. The meaning is precise andobjective.

In the hermeneutical process, of interpreting the revealed text, one needs to know first the significanceof the words in order to discover the meaning of a word or a text.

1.2 THE BIBLICAL SENSE AND ITS CATEGORIES

The biblical sense contains the truth which the Holy Spirit transmitted to us, men, through hagiographersby the means of language.

In the text of the Holy Scripture we can identify two kinds of senses: a literal-historical one, expresseddirectly through words and another one, intermediated, real-typical.

The literal-historical sense is not specific to the Holy Scripture but rather met in any literary text.However, the real-typical sense can be found only in the Scripture.

Two examples, from the Old and the New Testament, are presented in order to delimitate the types ofbiblical meaning:

Ezekiel 9, 4: “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set the sign of thecross (the letter tau which in the Greek alphabet had the shape of a cross) upon the foreheads of the menthat sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof”.

Revelation 7, 2-4: „And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God:and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in




their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundredand forty and four thousands of all the tribes of the children of Israel”.

It is obvious that the Holy Scripture in the Romanian translation introduces in Ezekiel 9.4 “the sign ofthe cross”, even if these are not words that appear in the Hebrew text, but wT'ø t'ywI“t.hiw> („make thesign taw”).

The significance of the word wT' is that from the Hebrew dictionary, “the name of the last Hebrewconsonant” (Koehler, 1953, p. 1920). The meaning of this letter is, at Ezekiel, a special one: wT'becomes a sign by which all those marked by the angel of God will be spared.

From a literally-historical point of view, the text mentions a sign which eases the delimitation, by thesix men of the divine revenge, of the believers from the idol worshipers from the holy city, who were tobe killed. But, if we go from the literal to the typical understanding, this sign should be T from hr"AT,which means that the Israelite had to remember the divine commandment which could save him fromany danger, even from death. The real-typical meaning is underlined in the Romanian text by the phrase“the sign of the cross” which the paleo-Hebrew T resembles, a context in which the Hebrew wT'øt'ywI“t.hiw> may be a direct allusion to the Holy Cross in the Old Testament. Also, Rev. 7, 2-4 refersto the believers’ salvation through the Holy Cross.

2. THE LITERAL-HISTORICAL SENSE (PROPER AND FIGURATIVE)

The literal-historical sense can be proper or figurative, metaphorical, tropic.

The proper sense is the one of using the words with their usual meaning while the figurative is that ofusing the words with a meaning which differs from the usual one, by giving them traits of other beings,objects or actions.

In Jeremiah 2, 13: “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain ofliving waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”, there is no wateror fountain in the proper meaning. Jeremiah admonishes the people, the unworthy priests and thepolitical leaders who were thirsty for the word of God no more. That is why Israel will becomeopprobrious among the peoples (Jeremiah 2, 31-37).

In the Gospel of John 15, 5, Christ the Lord says: „I am the vine, ye are the branches”, making usunderstand that only by the Eucharistic nurture from Christ-the-Vine can we live for eternal life, can webecome aware of and responsible regarding our belonging to His mystical body, the Church.

2.1 THE TYPES OF THE PROPER SENSE

Expressing by using only the proper sense is very rare because the author often tries to express meaningsthat go beyond the words. But a certain way of expressing things may render a statement expressed inthe proper meaning more beautiful, strong, dynamic and plastic. The figures of speech that this rhetoricalprocess consists of are: the magniloquence, the hyperbole, the meiosis, the irony, the ellipsis, and thecomparison.

a. The magniloquence is the articulation of a sequence or a word which the speaker considers not enoughunderlined for assuring an optimal decoding from the receiver.

In the Old Testament it is often announced the “day”, “that day”, “the day of God”, but Zechariah (14,1) states with magniloquence: “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the




midst of thee”. Related to this, Saint Paul affirms that „the day of God will come like a thief at night”,adding eschatological details (I Thessalonians 5, 1-11).

The speech that appeals to magniloquence is called magniloquent. It is more solemn than the usualspeech.

b. The hyperbole is an artistic figure of speech by which one exaggerates intentionally, increasing ordecreasing the features of a being, a thing, phenomenon or event in order to impress the readers.

As an example I quote the text from Is. 2, 2: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountainof the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills;and all nations shall flow unto it.”

Saint Apostle Paul calls himself the chief of the sinners (I Timothy 1, 15).

c. Meiosis is a figure of speech through which one expresses, in an ironical way, the contrary of whatone thinks. An appropriate example is the speech, of a special beauty, held by Jotham on Mount Garizim,a speech referring to his brother, Abimelech, and presented in Judges 9, 7-15, from which verse 14 callsfor attention: ”Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us”.

d. The irony expresses the contrary by a dissimulated, ironical speech.

Joel 3, 10: “Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, Iam strong!”

e. The ellipsis consists of suppressing a word or a fragment from the sentence because it is not essentialor it can be deduced from the context. It is known the fact that the frequent absence of the verb “to be”from the Hebrew text is a characteristic of this language as we may see, for example, in Deuteronomy6, 4:

`dx'(a, hw"ïhy> WnyheÞl{a/ hw"ïhy> lae_r"f.yI [m;Þv.

„Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord ”.

f. The comparison is the figure of speech by which one pinpoints the resemblance or difference betweentwo terms.

As an example I quote Ezekiel 1, 28: „As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day ofrain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness ofthe glory of the Lord”.

Such figures of speech belonging to the literal proper style are very frequent in the Holy Scripture andbring a special stylistic value.

2.2 FIGURES OF THE FIGURATIVE SENSE

The figurative or tropic meaning is met when the author expresses something indirectly, by usingexpressions that are related to each other concerning the meaning.

The following figures of speech and stylistic devices led to a real literary adornment of the sacred textby giving it expressivity, coherence, and harmony:

a. The synecdoche is a figure of speech which consists of the broadening or narrowing of the meaningof a word by using the part for the whole (pars pro toto) or the other way around, of the particular forthe general, of the material of which a thing is made for the thing itself, of the singular for the plural.




Jeremiah 23, 19: “Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: itshall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked” (the whole body).

Colossians 3, 15: „And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also ye are called in one body;and be ye thankful”.

b. The metonymy is a figure of speech related to metaphor, which consists in replacing the cause withthe effect and the other way around, of the work with the author’s name, of a product with its origin,with the concrete with the abstract etc., on the basis of a logical relation.

An example of replacing the work with the author’s name may be read at Luke 16, 31: „And he saidunto him: «If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rosefrom the dead».”

In order to describe longevity, a life rich in years, the Scripture of the Old Testament uses phrases like:“fullness of days”, “advanced in years”, orek iamim “length of days” (Job 12, 12; Ps. 21, 4; Prov. 3,2.16), iamim rabim „many days” (Ps. 34:13; Eccl. 11:8), sheva iamim „sated with days” (Gen. 35, 29; ICr. 23, 1; 29, 28; II Cr. 24, 15; Job 42, 17), mle iamim „full of days” (Jer. 6, 11) Or verbal expressionslike vehaarakti et iameika „lengthen thy days” (I Kings 3, 14), iosif al iameika „He will add unto thydays” (Is. 38, 5). God Himself is described as being „the Ancient of days” (Dan. 7, 9), represented withwhite hair (Rev. 1, 14; Dan. 7, 9).

c. The metaphor is the figure of style by which a usual term is replaced, on the basis of resemblance, byanother one, improper or figurative.

The Holy Scripture keeps very many metaphors among which: ”the heart of the sea” (Exodus 15, 8),„the mouth of hell” (Is. 5, 14). Christ the Saviour warns His contemporaries to avoid „the leaven of thePharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matthew 16, 6).

Sometimes God is endowed with parts of the human body (anthropomorphisms), human activities ortraits (Ps. 33, 15; Is. 1, 20; Job 19, 21; Luke 1, 5).

Many of the metaphors of the text have been lost in the process of translation. Instead of the word witha figurative meaning, the one with the proper meaning was used. We have an example in Deut. 32, 18,a text in which Moses chides the people of Israel for worshiping the idols of other peoples and remindsit that the only true God is the One who “gave it birth” – the Rock: „You have forgotten the Rock (theDefender in the authorized translation) who gave birth to you and you have not remembered God whomade you (with pain)” (personal translation).

`^l<)l.xom. laeî xK;Þv.Tiw: yviT,_ ^ßd>l'y> rWcï

The psalmist lends colour to this idea by the words: „He will call Me «You are my Father, my God andthe Rock (the Forwarder in the authorized translation) of my salvation»” (Ps. 89:27-28, personaltranslation):

`yti(['Wvy> rWcåw> yliªae÷ hT'a'_ ybia'ä ynIaer"q.yIâ aWhå

In a theological meaning, rWc and the synonymous noun !b,a, „stone” may refer to theunchangeableness of God ‘s will, expressed by His laws (Exodus 24:12; 31:18; Deut. 4:13).

d. The allegory is the figure of speech by which abstract concepts are personified with the aim oftransmitting a moral teaching.

For example, Ezekiel speaks, in chapter 23, about the spiritual prostitution of the two cities, Samariaand Jerusalem, presented allegorically as two sisters with symbolic names: Ohola „my own tent” and




Oholiba „my tent is in her”. They debauched with their neighbors, the Assyrians and the Egyptians, i.e.they worshiped their idols and abandoned God.

e. The parable is a fictional story with a didactic character which transmits truths of faith or moralteachings. In the Old Testament we have the parable of Nathan about the rich man (II Kings 12, 4).Christ the Saviour presented a great part of his teachings through parables: that of the sower (Matthew13, 18-23), of the king’s son’s wedding (Matthew 22, 1-14), of the charitable Samarian (Luke 10) etc.

The elements of a parable are taken from the daily life and also from the vegetal and animal world.

Saint Cyril of Alexandria (In Commentary on Luke) states: „Hidden and discreetly, the parables teachus useful knowledge least we contemplate their meaning closely”.

f. The fable is an allegory which takes the form of an imaginary tale from the world of nature or of theanimals, with the aim of rendering a truth more plastic.

An example of fable is the text Judges 9, 8-15, about the council of the trees on the election of a kingfrom among them.

g. The riddle is a species of the folk literature by which the listeners are asked to identify an object ora phenomenon that is described.

Samson’s riddle (Judges 14) is an obvious example in the Hebrew Scripture.

h. The gnome is a short sentence, an apothegm that represents a moral thought, a piece of practicaladvice. From among the numerous sentences of the Old Testament I mention:

Ps. 7, 15: „(The unbeliever, m.n.) made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made”.

Obadiah 1, 21: „Pride leads to destruction”

i. The symbol is the concrete sign which evokes or represents, by analogy, something different from it.The symbols in the Holy Scripture may be:

- Prophetic symbolic acts

- Symbolic visions

- Symbolic things and persons

As examples I present theological symbols from The Vision of Ezekiel or The Mystic Wheel by FraAngelico.

The elements that characterize the presence of divinity in Ezekiel’s vision are also depicted by de FraAngelico: the exterior wheel is surrounded by fire, its rungs are golden, sign of a radiant light, the ideaof the spinning wheel leads to the name it was given by Ezekiel, galgal – “whirlwind”, and the texts inthe upper part of the image seem to be uttered by the all mighty voice of God who reveals Himself.Ezekiel himself (1:24) states that the sound that was produced by the flapping of the wings was “likethe voice of the Almighty” (yD:v;-lAqK.) (keqol Shadday), on one hand an anthropomorphic descriptionof God’s manner of communicating, on the other hand, as the Judaic and Church tradition understood,a manifestation of the prophetic spirit through which God revealed Himself.

The exterior wheel represents the Old Testament, portraying twelve of its most important prophets:Moses, Solomon, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Micah, Jonah, Joel, Malachi, Ezra, Daniel, Isaac, and David.Moses, flanked by King David on the right and King Solomon on the left, is the central character, holding




the two tables of the Commandments. From those aforementioned, Isaac is the only figure of the OldTestament who was not a writer.

The interior wheel represents the New Testament, portraying John, Simon Peter, Marcus, JudahThaddeus, Lucas, Jacob son of Alpheus, Matthew, and Paul.

Not surprisingly, the four Evangelists are placed in such a manner that they form the sign of the cross.Like the four sides of the Cross, the correlation among the four Evangelists and the four faces of thecelestial beings brings forth the symbolical significance of number four, as an expression of the idea ofuniversality. Attentive to details (let us not forget that Fra Angelico exercised miniature, too, probablyworking with his elder brother, Benedetto, also a Dominican monk (James Mason, 1908, 27), FraAngelico depicted the four with the faces revealed to Ezekiel: in the upper part John, with an eagle’shead; on the right Marcus, with a lion’s head; at the bottom Lucas, with an ox’s head; on the leftMatthew, with a man’s/ angel’s head (Clara Erskine Clement, 1895, 21-24). They hold codex (boundbooks) in their hands, in contrast with the other Apostles portrayed with scrolls in their hands.

The theological idea that the painter-monk wants to highlight is that God gave his Word through fouraccounts, differing in form but identical as regards the gist, united by the same Holy Ghost. The identityof the Scripture is linked to the identity of the source of its revelation, the Holy Trinity. That is whyJeronimus states: “Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the Lord's team of four, the true cherubim or storeof knowledge” („Matthaeus, Marcus, Lucas, et Joannes, quadriga Domini, et verum Cherubim, quodinterpretatur scientiae multitudo”; Cf. A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of theChristian Church, 1893).

In Fra Angelico’s representation, the background for the Old Testament prophets is dark, as of the“people that walked in darkness” (Is. 9:1), who, in the New Testament “have seen a great light”, so thatover those who were living “in death’s shadow” light will come, represented by Fra Angelico by theblue image of the sky. The exterior circle does not delimits, but leads to the center, to the interior, to themystery, justifying thus John’s text: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcomeit” (John 1:5, parallel with John 8:12; 12:35-36.46; Luke 2:29-32; II Corinthians 4:6). It is alsonoticeable that there is continuity between the center and the poles of light of the two Testaments’representations.

Fra Angelico surrounded the exterior wheel of the Old Testament with the Latin text from Genesis 1:1-5: “In principio creavit Deus caelum et terram terra autem erat inanis et vacua et tenebrae super faciemabyssi et spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas dixitque Deus fiat lux et facta est lux. Et vidit Deus lucemquod esset bona et divisit lucem ac tenebras appellavitque lucem diem”. The interior wheel, of the NewTestament, is surrounded by the Latin text from John 1:1-3: “In principio erat Verbum et Verbum eratapud Deum et Deus erat Verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt et sineipso factum est nihil quod factum est”. It is obvious that the texts chosen by Fra Angelico for the twowheels begin with in principio (“in the beginning”) and this is to show the unity of God’s revelation inthe two Testaments.

In The Vision of Ezekiel, Fra Angelico highlights two fundamental characteristics of the revelation: theunity of the Scripture, from the first to its last word, and the intrinsic relation between the Scripture ofthe Old and the New Testament.

More textual clues from Ezekiel 1 and 10 led the Church Fathers to the argumentation of the idea ofunity of the divine revelation. The four beasts/cherubs look identical (1:5-8) and that is why they areidentified in Ezekiel 1:22; 10:15.17.20 by the singular hY"x; (“being”). Their unity results also from thefact that “their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel” (Ezekiel




1:16). “Wheel in the middle of a wheel” is an image of the two Testaments’ unity, an idea completed byother Old Testament theological images as of the cherubs “face to face” on the cover of the Tabernacle(Exodus 25:18.22; Numbers 7:89) among which God reveals Himself.

Ezekiel’s wheel may be viewed as a sun with rays that burst from the center, and being itself as acontinuous and infinite relation. As source of light, the wheel of revelation of the New and the OldTestament is the icon of God’s light, of the eternal discovery of God’s timeless love.

At the bottom of the representation appears prophet Ezekiel, on the left, and Saint Gregory the Great,pope of Rome in 590-604, on the right. The text on the upper part quotes a fragment from Gregory’shomily on Ezekiel’s book, a text first translated in English not earlier than 1990 (Saint Gregory theGreat, 1990). Gregory the Great refers to Ezekiel’s idea of wheel within wheel, with application to thetwo Testaments. It is important to underline the fact that Fra Angelico refers, in his painting, to PopeGregory and not to Saint Augustine (354-430 A.D.), the one who established as dictum the phraseNovum in Vetere latet et in Novo Vetus patet (Quaestiones in Heptateuchum, 2, 73).

As biblical arguments for the idea of the unity of revelation and of the intrinsic relation of the twoTestaments, Fra Angelico reproduces under each image from the complex Armadio degli argenti twoscriptural texts: the first one is an Old Testament prophecy and the second one is a New Testament textthat shows the fulfillment of the first. Each pair of texts exemplifies the idea of “wheel in the middle ofthe wheel” and demonstrates the authenticity of the holy text, and the reality and unity of revelation.God is the One Who speaks and the One spoken about. The revealed Word in the Old Testament is theEmbodied Lord in the New Testament (Revelation 19:13).

CONCLUSIONSThe biblical text has two levels: a human one (the literal meaning) and the divine one (the spiritualmeaning) which should be neither separated from each other nor mixed. In the first epistle to theCorinthians 3, 1, Saint Paul states: “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but asunto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ”. Consequently, he differentiates between two levels of humanunderstanding: the spiritual (pnevmaticos), hidden, and the bodily (sarkinos), literal, obviously.

The Church affirms, by its patristic and liturgical thesaurus the universality and unity of the literalmeaning, the fact that the Holy Scripture is, in its integrity, revealed, it is the Word of God.

The Christian has to read the Scripture while having “the mind of the Lord” (I Cor. 2, 16). Thus, SaintMaximus the Confessor stresses: “there is a gradual incarnation of Christ in the reasons of the world, ofthe Scripture, and of man, corresponding to the natural law, the written law and the law of grace.”.Christ, the Word of God, is Scripture or, in other words, is incarnated in the Scripture. Christ Himself isthe interpret of the Scripture.

Saint Maximus the Confessor’s words, written in Mystagogy, constitutes a patristic conclusion to theissues presented in this course: „The Holy Scripture, taken as a whole, is like a man, who has the OldTestament as his body and the New as his soul,…and mind; or the literal history of the whole HolyScripture, the Old and the New, the body and the meaning of the what is written and the aim towardswhich that meaning tends, the soul […] Because, as the man is mortal according to what is seen andimmortal according to what is invisible, so has the Holy Scripture the visible letter and the grace hiddenin its letter never stops existing. And as man, while mastering by wisdom the want and the sinfultendency, withers the body, so does the Holy Scripture, understood spiritually, cuts out the letter fromitself. […] The more its letter withdraws, the more grace increases.”




„[The spiritual man] should go up with wisdom towards the Holy Ghost through the thorough study ofthe Holy Scripture, rising above the letter. Because it is in Him that one finds the whole good and thehidden treasures of knowledge and wisdom, inside which the one who becomes worthy to enter, willfind God Himself inscribed in the tables of the heart by grace.”

REFERENCES

Basarab, Mircea, Hermeneutica biblică, Editura Episcopiei Ortodoxe Române, Oradea, 1997.

Biblia sau Sfânta Scriptură, apărută cu aprobarea Sfântului Sinod, EIBMBOR, București, 1991.

Breck, John, Sfânta Scriptură în tradiţia Bisericii, Editura Patmos, Cluj-Napoca, 2003.

Bude, Dr. Ioan, Elemente de tipologie vechitestamentare, in „Altarul Banatului”, XII (2001), nr. 4-6,pp. 66-72.

Dicţionar General de Ştiinţe. Ştiinţe ale limbii, Editura Ştiinţifică, Bucureşti, 1997.

Dicţionarul Explicativ al Limbii Române, ediţia a II-a, Editura Univers Enciclopedic, Bucureşti, 1996.

Erskine Clara Clement, A Handbook of Christian Symbols and Stories of the Saints as illustated in Art,Fifth Edition, The Riverside Press, Boston and New York, 1895.

Ionescu-Ruxăndoiu, Liliana, Conversaţia. Structuri şi strategii, Editura All Educaţional, Bucureşti,1999.

Jinga, Constantin, Aventura căutării de sens – o istorisire a exegezei biblice creştine, in „AltarulBanatului”, IX (1998), nr. 4-6, pp. 14-35.

Kuen, Alfred, Cum să interpretăm Biblia, Editura Stephanus, 2002.

LaCocque, Andre; Ricoeur, Paul, Cum să înţelegem Biblia, Editura Polirom, Iaşi, 2002.

Letter to Paulinus, bishop of Nola (Ad Paulinum), no. 53, 8, in A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, second series, vol. 6: „St. Jerome; Letters and Select Works”,Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1893.

Maier, Gerhard, Hermeneutica biblică, Editura Lumina Lumii, Sibiu, 2008.

Mason James, Fra Angelico, Illustrated with eight Reproductions in colour, London-New York, 1908.

Mihoc, Pr. Asistent, Vasile, Sensul tipic al Vechiului Testament după I Corinteni 10, 1-11, in„Mitropolia Ardealului”, XXI (1976), nr. 4-6, pp. 273-285.

Morwood, James, Oxford Latin Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 1995.

Rovenţa-Frumuşani, Daniela, Argumentarea. Modele şi strategii, Editura All, Bucureşti, 2000.

Saint Gregory the Great, Homilies on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, translated by TheodosiaTomkinson, introduction by Archbishop Chrysostomos, Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies,1990.

Scriban, Arhim. Iuliu, Ermineutica biblică, Bucureşti, 1922.

Semen, Pr. Prof. Dr. Petre, Sensul noţiunii de dreptate după cărţile istorice şi profetice ale VechiuluiTestament, in „Mitropolia Olteniei”, 1978, nr. 7-9, pp. 571-584.




Semen, Pr. Prof. Dr. Petre, Vorbirea în pilde în cărţile Sfintei Scripturi, în „Teologie şi Viaţă”, 1992, nr.8-12, pp. 18-31.

Stamatoiu, Pr. Lect. D., Despre sensurile Sfintei Scripturi. Noţiuni preliminare, in „Mitropolia Olteniei”,XLVI (1994), nr. 1-6, pp. 45-64.

Stamatoiu, Pr. Prof., Dionisie, Sensul noţiunii de “trup” în Epistolele Sfântului Apostol Pavel, in„Mitropolia Olteniei”, XXXVI (1984), nr. 9-10, pp. 568-578.

Stăniloae, Dumitru, Iisus Hristos sau Restaurarea omului, ediția a II-a, Editura Omniscop, Craiova,1993.

Szabo, Lucian Vasile, Libertate și comunicare în lumea presei. Principii, norme, reguli. Limbajul mass-media, Editura Amacord, Timișoara, 1999, passim pp. 142-153.

Tuţescu, Mariana, L’argumentation. Introduction a l’etude du discours, Editura Universităţii dinBucureşti, Bucureşti, 1998.

Vatamanu, diac. dr. Cătălin, „Războiul sfânt” din perspectiva Vechiului Testament, in „StudiiTeologice”, Bucureşti, Editura IBMBOR, seria a III-a, II (2006), nr. 3, p. 100-119.

Vatamanu, diac. dr. Cătălin, Christ - The Cornerstone of Church’s Revelation: an answer to theiconographic dialogue in „The Mystical Wheel” by Fra Angelico, in „European Journal of Science andTheology”, vol. 9, nr. 2, 2013, pp. 23-32.

Vatamanu, diac. dr. Cătălin, Sensul metaforei grădinii în tradiţia ebraică, in „Teologie şi Viaţă”, serienouă, XX (2010), nr. 1-4, pp. 133-144.




PRINCIPLE OF GRACIOUSNESS AND LONGING OF THE AUTHENTICITY OF OUR

BECOMING VERSUS THE INTERFERENCE: MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES –

MULTIPLE GRACES

Liuba Botezatu

Comrat StateUniversity, UTA Gagauzia, Republic of Moldova

Abstract

Graciousness, as a general principle of human awareness, incites in a phenomenological way ( the nineaxiological possibilities) a process of continuous upward valuation: Man, horizon of Mysteries – Man,horizon of Great Virtues. Across of what the success of multiple graces (of the multiple mutations ’’onthe board’’ of competitiveness) exalts directly in identical strategic identities: Multiple Graces -Multiple individualities, if to emphasize pointing on the indicative (guiding) joints of the Graciousnessgenerally- the completion of personality by discovery and vice versa – the discovery of personality bycompletion. Namely, under the auspices of multiple graces, is conducted/ excels the phenomenologicalintegrating joints of the multiple intelligences, especially valuing the intrapersonal and interpersonalvalorization, which actually detaches the vocational functions of the valorizing ego at the level ofmultiple Graces (The Three Graces) of Antiquity. However, this particular stimulatory gratitude shallbecome the guarantor of our desired completions, taking into account the graces as real actionablepossibilities or as possible actions arising from that desire, that longing for achievement / self-realization. The longing by mind and spirit, proclaims, in this way, its revelatory authenticity reportingto the lived or feasible reality. Knowing to enter in the graces of valuable time – is looming the skills /abilities as a finality of an achieved goal shaped by / on ’’ some associated experience" oscillatingbetween past and future. At the moment, longing resigns naturally as stimulus of free consentauthenticity of valuable self-determination. In other words, Graciousness, as principle of generalaxiology, expresses the first condition of the longing to self-realization through reason and revelation.

Key words: Man, multiple graces, horizon of Mysteries, horizon of Great Virtues, focusing oncapacities…

From the complementarity of some subjective-predictive records, the action to grace has been pervertedin phenomenological (interactive/retroactive) attitude of verb-adverb towards the manifestations ofuniversal good (common) sense–to make graces, to get into somebody’s good graces. But, the nominalderivative of such sensitizing action – graciousness, having a strategic retroactive (cause and effect)character, at level of free will (the Graciousness) having, in a direct evidence, the effective significanceof freedom), designates the willful action of the acting parts on the entire sensitizing process results ina righteous integrity – Human, horizon of Great Virtues. Thus, the interaction of hermeneutic – hermeticand, respectively, hermetic – hermeneutic gradually erupts in a product/products of own embryonic-fructified completions cumulatively are sediment in depths. In this context, we shall insist on the twocompleting sides of authenticity. The first one affectively focuses on the idea of G. Calinescu about“restlessness and adventure” – at the level of “longing for what is the most beautiful and perfect” (seethe folk tale Miron şi Frumoasa fără corp (Miron and the Beautiful without body); the second one – toCamil Petrescu (în Nopţile de Sînzenie (Nights of Midsummer Day) lent on “the essence of lived life”,




prerequisite or condition of “the absurd game” of the existence of lived values by which there issynthesized the fact that the authenticity does not oppose to the whole, but rather it is an effect (result)thereof. At the Man, Horizon of Great Virtues level, to live is to arouse temptation of knowledge, toinvest knowledge in the fund of own completions, to initiate yourself to invent a new world – to buildpossible worlds able to enhance the authenticity of existence. You can be authentic only in the case ofsome possible chances of being in a true and real estate of graciousness – of ascension of the Man, fromthe horizon of mysteries towards Man – horizon of great virtues. Practiced in educational system, inter-disciplinarily and trans-disciplinarily become is completing to the phenomenon of authenticity. To beauthentic means, in our opinion, to be in a total state of graciousness of returning with much longingand love to the essence of “the first adventure” and the fusion/contamination with the value space ofuniversality. But, this particular stimulatory gratitude shall become the guarantor of the most desired(coveted) completions, taking into account the graces as actionable possibilities or possible actionsoccurred from that desire, that longing of fulfillment/self-fulfillment. The longing, by mind and spirit,thus proclaims its revealing authenticity towards the lived reality or feasible reality. Knowing how to getinto the good graces of valuable time prefigures (foreshadows) the ability (skill)/abilities (skills) asfinality of a purpose achieved/shaped by/on “a certain associated experience” oscillating between thepast and future. In the present, the Longing naturally resigns as stimulus of the authenticity of the freeconsent of value self-determination. Longing for life, longing for adventure come both from surface –from those heard, and especially from those seen (from the deceptive magic of the eye), but also fromthe underneath or beneath of the unsuspected feelings of the permanent adamant soul/“animator”/mover.Hence, we shall conclude that plausible sheds or senses of contemporaneity are not those of integrationin authenticity – the authenticity itself re-consigns the plurality mediated (propagated through themedia), self (by return to essence) at the stage of incipient (earlier) valorizations – but those of freeengagement in the service of consubstantial authenticity of perpetual perversion in new configurationsof natural becoming.

1. KNOWING HOW TO DO GREACES AT THE LEVEL OF SYNTHESIZING(CONSOLIDATION) OF VALUES AXIS

If we make an analogy with the lexeme grammar which means the concept (notion) of correctness bothat level of morphological manifestations of performing arts, and at syntactic level – synthesizing(consolidation) of values axis, and then discovering the world of mystery at the level of longing acquiresepistemological predominance in a certain ’’grammatical’’ way, towards the skill of knowing how to dograces or knowing how to reflect the truth (veracity) of identity of epistemic graces. The functions ofmultiple Graces (on a formative field they relate to the factual grievances of self-fulfillment) are thoseto know how to get into the graces of primary time regarding the three basic principles of ever didactics:knowledge, communication and creativity.

The main objective of multiple graces is re-consignment of human as horizon of mysteries, and at levelof transcendence –his ascension up to the Horizon of Great Virtues. Therefore, it would mean to opt fora whole space of general axiology called: Graciousness. The modalities (forms) of spreading of multiplegraces, by interpolating the three principles of ever didactics, obviously has an epistemic-strategic andsensitizing character at the level of elegance of stylistic matrix of each separate identity, and of the entirehumankind (human race) in general: principles, methods, objectives (purposes), skills/finalities, ideal oflife. The finality (goal) of a pastoral (mioritically) grace personalized is the virtue itself. However, whenwe propose ourselves as objective to get really integrated in the graces of valuable space, in the gracesof own phenomenological episteme, others do not know what they feel, but we have the feeling of an




opening with much love of the prospects for broadening our own horizon of the alleged virtues…Nothing is more holy and more beautiful than the presentiment (premonition) of self-completions!

The very explanation from dictionary is a logical staging (phasing) prefigured by content performance(evolving)/assessment at a personified level by agent/agents of action: grace, graciousness, gratitude,the three graces (goddesses) of antiquity, to do graces, to get into somebody’s graces…; Graciousness–the action of grace and the result thereof; national and Christian values; general human values underwhich cover the entire path of spiritual transcendence evolves (performs). To be in a state ofgraciousness or gratitude means to be in the nets (meshes) of multiple Graces, at the border between thebeautiful and the sublime, where the full theoretical and praxiological engagement dwells: the theory ofmultiple intelligences, the theory of integral knowledge –theory of types of knowledge in general; thetheory of self-completion, interpretation at the level of phenomenological authenticity in particular.

Thus, the Principle of Graciousness invokes an integrating/illuminating strategy as regards all mentionedtheories, a fact considering the requests of Florin Frumos: “All three types of knowledge aresimultaneously learned, so that they may actually lead to the behavioral noised (trumpeted) a lot inthe traditional definitions of learning…” (7, p.119).The conditional knowledge is assimilated together,i.e. at the same time, in the same structure with the declarative and procedural ones, that if we considerthe principle of Graciousness as a leading integrator principle.

2. LONGING – SYNTHESIS OF AUTHENTICITY OF BECOMING ON THE SCALE OFMULTIPLE GRACES

The utilitarianism of germ favors the meaning and sense of birth and development of a new creature, anew phenomenon; the longing, in such genealogical position, excels (transcends) the initial stage of acertain specific modality (way) of germination/stimulation of fond (sake) for life opposite to the fact ofdoing graces in the name of love for the close person. The longing of introversion/extraversion gets thepreponderances of a genuine germinator principle, permanent preference of being in the exercise offond (sake) for life. One of the most sacred axiological predestinations of grace/to do graces, atMoldovans, namely rises from the most subtle affinities of doing well; doing well in this regard havinga double motivational significance: a) extrinsic, occurred from necessity, from duty, and (b) intrinsic,rising, in particular, from a certain kind of oneself being in the riverbed of fond (sake) to do well – joy(happiness) of completing tendency. The expression “I have been caught by a longing for death” is oftenand frequently used by us for the purpose of doing something useful for the most ones to like, butespecially for the 1stperson (something not enough determined). And namely this internalization(introversion) rather erupts in the product of the most desired completions. It happens that the longingfor sacral, opposite on the ability to do well, can be intrinsically motivated only by a certain inexplicablepassionate way of not fidgeting (being in a tear) until the time and moment of desired achievements.Besides godliness (piety), value predetermination of entire Christendom (Christianity), the longing forRomanians initiates multiple graces on the path of value victories. To do something from dutysometimes contravene to the will to do well. The duty itself is motivated by longing and for the sake ofdoing well. Therefore, the responsibility, in this way, is an ethically/aesthetically motivated one, towardscertain flair (hunch) of evolutional germinations: longing for the parental home (homesickness), forbeloved person, for being captivated and indulging with passion is a fact of life. The projection of eternalsearches “lighted up before the eyes as a mind (conscience)”. The graces are a prefiguration of thecomplex ego occurred through a spirit and mind eager for materialization. The longing for what is moreperfect at the time of disavowal (denial) becomes in regret (sorrow) – disease antipode to cleverness(skillfulness). The longing for fulfillment or achievement comes from the mind of overcoming the




obstacles that stand in the path of fulfillment or achievement. The longing exalts, but also procrastinatesthe Romanian-Moldavian person, when he estranges from the principle of germination of his dignity –to do graces in order to break the deadlock – to do graces regarding the self-regulation (self-adjustment)of own intentions; of integration in an environment favorable to self-completions. Certainly the longing,its predestination, is firstly the one of exalting or ascending the spirit by conscious overcoming of earthlypride. Therefore, the failures of the desired one are sickly supported. Hence, the entire Romanianmythology is bearing/regulating this stimulant of authenticity of becoming called longing: “The onewho is touched by longing shall not think it is a joke”… “and then when he was longing to go, he wasgone”, “And, then running and running after a rabbit he did not even notice when he arrived in theValley of Grievances ( Valea Plângerii), and he was caught by a longing for the loved ones, longing forparental home (homesickness)” (back in time) after the fall of time – our longing for life is able toovercome the condition of the dynamic equilibrium of doings (perpetrations) towards what isreconstructed as rationality and revelation. The longing, as a synthesis of the authenticity of becoming,always remains to be the stimulus of our consubstantial aspirations/records at level of Graciousness.

The core of our epistemic consistency is configured, as mentioned above, by many interpretative facetsof longing (as authentic spiritual evidence) on the norming scale of multiple Graces: return of duality toessence, creative self-re-consignment as horizon of great virtues, continuous formation, valueregulation/self-regulation, ascension through spirituality, integration/reintegration in value time andspace; re-consignment of a joint ideal of life at level of human dignity.

3. PRINCIPLE OF GRACIOUSNESS BETWEEN TO THINK (THINKING) AND TO BE(BEING)

Interpretation of key-terms according to the Explanatory Dictionary (DEX) of the Romanian language:

Intellectual= 1.Adj. which belongs to the intellect, which refers to the activities of the mind, intellect.2. N. a person possessing/characterizing a preparation (training) of thorough (conscious) specialty andworking in the field of arts, science, technology etc.; person belonging to intelligentsia (intellectuals).

Intellectualism =1.Concept (Idea) according to which the intellect, rationality is capable ofunderstanding the world – understanding the good involves committing it. Grace as a product ofpersonal/interpersonal achievements of actions thereof.

Intelligent= adj. endowed with intelligence, clever, sharp-minded (quick-witted). Knowing how to besmart (resourceful) = to feel (seize) the essential by returning to essence.

Intelligence, intelligences = the ability to easily and well understand, to feel (seize) what is essential,to solve situations or new problems based on the previous experience; capacity of technical systems toachieve performances.

3.1 The Graciousness is a process bearing a guiding – inter-relational character. The Graciousness asan intellectual process characterizes not simply the movement – the entire vegetal world has the abilityto move in a way or another. Only the human consciously has graciousness, as an intellect, regardinghis own way of being, of creating/pro-creating himself.

Both on surface and in depth, the human intellect is haloed with a well-determined fact of life afferentto the specimen it represents: to think and to do. Any of multiple graces, in some way, at the level ofGraciousness, certifies an actionable/strategic possibility of norming achievement (of more movements




in one sole unison) specific to the edifying (illuminating) requirement; thus the graciousness producingitself as value by value only at the level of the longing it predetermines.

The lexeme/determinative to grace refers (in our case) to the capacity and ability of the human intellectto make movements (to keep every movement under control) when actuating his mental activity and notto the instincts specific to any creature incapable of thinking. The stimulus/stimulant of graces/pardons(reprieves) being, in a direct measure, palpable to the propulsive internalizations (introversions):pleasure and pain versus pleasure of pain: Longing. A cat and a swan, and any other creature also cando graces, can be graceful, but not to the extent of self-awareness fact.

3.2 Two representative forms of self-knowledge and five stages of civilization evolving

The two forms of self-knowledge predetermine:

1. Self-knowledge at the level of telluric perfection (completeness) we are striving to;2. Self-knowledge at the level of terrestrial (earthly)/ordinary of the reality we are fitting in.

Discovering the world of mystery requires a total engagement towards the fact that “there is alsosomething nice” in every creature and in all alike.

3.3 According to Hegel, the History of civilization knows four stages of development:

1. The Orient (East) – age of civilization childhood;

2. Ancient Greece – age of youth and beauty;

3. Roman Empire –age of civilization Renaissance;

4. Germany – age of civilization maturation.

The modernity acknowledges and admits still one more –the fifth stage:

5. Globalization – age of freedom of complex self-affirmation. All these five stages of development ofcivilization implicitly integrate the two representative forms of self-knowledge at the level of possibilityto domesticate (denizen) the Graciousness as a continuous valuable space of sensitization/revaluation ofspiritual becoming.

3.4 The sensitive factor plays an important role on the path of acquisition of Truth of knowledgedetermined by the existence of an objective reality of conversion thereof (of knowledge) intocompetences (skills). The formation of competences (skills) regards the twinning of the two completingimperatives: theory and practice on the line of constitution of the beautiful/good as an acquired value.Thus, we can add here that all our tendency of knowledge is moving towards the value of truth and,respectively, we can call all the types of formal/non-formal knowledge as steps to achieve such value.And the purpose of the formation process of subject/object of knowledge, value as such, follows theutility of factual externalization of the unique fact of life (existing) (longing) sensitively and inner settledout. In other words, ’’the transcendence isn’t a foreign body transplanted into the body of world, but itis the revelation of hidden depth of the world itself ’’ (Evdochima, 1992, p.135) in Ed. Religi.p.165,above).

However, our greatest fact of life (existing) is to masterfully vibrate the strings (chords) of longing webelong to namely by reason and revelation.




The interactivity (disciplinarily – interdisciplinary – trans-disciplinary) established on the harmonizinginter-polarization: multiple intelligences – multiple graces (regarding those reported above)phenomenally transcends into a hermetic/hermeneutic process relevant on the universality scale.

Deliberate reflections excel (transcend) during the classes of Free will on the stage of awareness of thefact that the path of knowledge, in fact, is/should be the path of truth.

The Graciousness, as mentioned above, is a continuous process of ascending valuation: Human, horizonof mysteries–Human, horizon of great virtues. And then, the success of multiple graces/of multiplemutations “on the game board” of competitiveness is directly proportional to the identity strategicfinalities thereof: Multiple Graces/Multiple individualities, if to emphasize the orientation pointing ofGraciousness in general – completion of personality by discovering and vice versa – discovering thepersonality by completion.

The phenomenological pointing of multiple intelligences is namely conducted/exalted under the auspicesof multiple graces, a special preponderance (predominance) being particularly acquired by thevalorization of intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences, by which fact we detach the vocationalfunctions of the valorizing ego at the level of multiple Graces (the three graces) of Antiquity.

In this context each principle, towards its strategic possibilities, prefigures itself a valorizing integralprocess. If the Graciousness is a process, then the multiple graces are multiple norming possibilities ofconversion of theorizations into attitudinal competences (skills). From the epistemic point of view, theGraciousness, being “the plan the education should be guided by”, relates to the philosophy ofcompletions, i.e. to the psychological and pedagogical sciences towards which fact we shall also addthat an authentic attitude (behavior) relates to a certain interpretative culture of formatting itself.

3.5 The hermetic/hermeneutic functions of multiple graces

- return to essence;- systemic/functional integrator character;

- harmonization of differences;

- spiritual transcendence;

- adjustment (regulation)/self-adjustment (self-regulation);

- conversion of possibilities into competences (skills);

- epistemic identification;

- complex valuable space;

- awareness of authenticity of becoming;

- Responsibility of self-completions.

4. HEGEL, TRANSITION IN THE GREEK WORLD

Apollo, the Greek God, as the embodiment (personification) of emancipation (unchaining) of the truthof his human being pronounces himself for the knowledge of the self: Man, know thyself! This sentence(judgment) does not refer to the knowledge by man of particularities relating to own weaknesses andimperfections; “not the man as an individual is the one who must recognize what it is specific thereto,but the man as such must recognize himself” in the specific features of the entity which he is originally




from. (our not.) It is the credo of the Greeks, in the Greek spirit the human appears in the clearness ofits development.

Paraphrasing Hegel (I., 213), we also dare upon the fact that “Moral clarification reaches toreconciliation with oneself” only (in the rays of sublime –of moral beauty) when “it is structured by civillaws and political freedom”. Thus, the principle of Pardon (Reprieve) namely insists on this fact.

In the same context, the great philosopher pronounces himself upon the fact that “the freedom of spirit(according to us, in the context of Pardon (Reprieve) is conditioned and is in essential relation tostimulation. The Greek freedom is caused (provoked) by something else and is free by fact that itconverts (transforms) and causes the self-stimulation”. Pursuant to Hegel, the freedom of self-stimulation through creation is the one to return the form of beautiful individuality to the Greekcharacter. Pursuant to our opinion, the Romanian freedom is challenged as in case of freedom of anyother nation (including the Greek one) of same stimulation of feelings from oneself/by oneself. But thisstimulation of self-feelings comes to keep the price here a little bit differently by/from the depths offlounders (struggles) of human in a same continuous mixture of pleasure and pain which, in thelanguage of our feelings, as we have shown, is called: longing. But, namely the longing, pursuant toConstantin Noica, with reference to Aristotle, is the substance of our identity fusions/sedimentationsfrom/through pleasure of pain: “But he who has feeling, has pleasure and pain, feels both the pleasantand the painful, and he, who has these both, has also desire, because this is the impulse towards thepleasant object (Aristotle, p.105).The stimulating character of the Greco-Roman roots reach (in theRomanian territory) the heights of sublime individualization just being easily carried by/on the wings oflonging/desire for affirmation; namely the longing, serving as an impulse/stimulus of ascension throughspirituality. The freedom of self- stimulation is promoted / engaged here through longing, through thelonging of confirmation/ exaltation of self-sublime at the level of universal engagements. If “the Greekspirit is the artist who transforms the stone into a work of art (as Hegel rightly highlights the same), thenpursuant to us, the Romanian spirit is directly the spirit of Multiple Graces, vocationally engaged on/tothe string of longing of propulsions of/from self, of longing for adventure and messianic immortality(by the Myth of Zalmoxis), of dignified return to sacredness, to the square of the hypotenuse of the wholeuniversality (regardless of whether or not Pythagoras was the disciple of Zalmoxis); longing for what ismost beautiful and perfect of our popular genius (,,Miron şi Frumoasa fără corp”(“Miron and thebeautiful without body”), word art, art of musical intonations, art of feeling through color, art of balladrhythms, rhythms of doina of our pastorate able to translate the non-being into a being since Orpheus byOvidiu to present…

For Romanians the longing is the keystone of opening the internalizations and stimulating integrationinto universality – the keystone of self-knowledge at the level of ascensions through spirituality.

According to Hegel, we recognize three realities of spirit awareness:

The first reality is the concept of religion itself, i.e. the religion as direct (immediate) religion, andtherefore the natural religion; therein the spirit is known as its object in a natural form, i.e. direct(immediate) form.

The biblical myth of Cain and Abel is recognized by us in the folk ballad “Miorița (The Little Ewe)”.

The second reality of spiritual awareness is necessarily that of knowing oneself in the form ofsuppressed nature, i.e.in the form of One Self. It is thus the religion in the form of arts; because theproductive configuration of consciousness rises up to the form of One Self, by which it sees the object,action thereof, that is the Self.




In this view (religion as art) it is definite the recognition for us/by us of the motive of Master Manole (Meşterul Manole) and again, the Mioritical one.

The third awareness of spirit, finally, suppresses the unilateralism (sidedness) of the other two; TheOne Self is at the same time a direct Self as the immediacy is Self.

If in the first, the spirit is the form of general consciousness, in the second – the form of self-consciousness, in the third – the form of unity of both; and since it (the spirit) is represented for itself, iteventually expresses the effects of relevant religion. Although the spirit reaches in it (in the relevantreligion) its true configuration, the configuration itself and the representation comprise the exactunsurpassed side from which the spirit shall pass into concept to completely dissolve the form ofobjectivity therein; a concept that also includes its opposite (the contents to render the form and theform, its opposite, which is the content).

The pointing of concept is to target (aim) to both at once: in content and form, in substance and evidencethereof. By configuration, the designer (conception person) shall give rise to a new engaging vision,integrating a new mode of motivational relevance of the germinator concept: pastoral motive and motiveof sacrifice on behalf of creation… (our not.). So one might think that the spirit proscribed the principleof its consistency at the level of possibility of self-awareness by itself, i.e. towards its existence in fact,“because this (the consciousness) is the concept, is the Spirit Itself” (F.S., 387).

As regards the Phenomenology of art we shall also add, in the first place, that the German classicalphilosophy had, as ordering principle, the prevalence of whole upon the part. Here we are required todifferentiate: what can be considered a whole and what can be considered as part?

Definitive for the German classical philosophy was the systemic nature (character) thereof; thisimplying as ordering principle the prevalence of the whole upon the part, involvement of variousphilosophical disciplines in a single philosophical vision. And secondly, that Kant was the Hegelianmodel: Kant’s constructivism required the perfection and completion of “critical” triad, completion of“pure rationality” and “practical rationality”. The constructivist philosophy expresses “the power ofjudgment” as prevalence of the whole; by a philosophy of art and a trilogy, claimed by architectonic(architectural) considerations. Thirdly, “The philosophy of art” (according to Schelling) wasconsubstantial to the “system of transcendental idealism ”which Hegel completes with the involvementof historical in logical, determining the history/being(existence) as becoming; the system as logicalprogress of events.

Finally, the competence which Hegel tended to: it was the Absolute Spirit to know thyself first as anart, then as a religion and as a philosophy. The forms to gather the objective with the subjective intoan absolute spirit are those by which the consciousness finds its freedom: religion, art and philosophy.Therefore, the principle of general axiology incorporates these three basic contingencies of thePhenomenology of spirit through which the Classical poet of the Romanian poetry, universal poet, MihaiEminescu, assumes the name of German intellectual model – an indisputable truth prefiguring in theentire creation thereof, and especially in Geniu pustiu (Empty Genius) “Everything is relation (relative),says our Eminescu, who defines the head (mind) of a man of talent as an illuminated room, with mirrorwalls in which the foreign ideas find a “society”, “a party”, an harmonization: “And how do they getout of this illuminated room? Many first enemies result as twinned ones, all knowing each other, allclearly knowing the relationship they are or may be in – and thus it is communicated to auditor (listener)and he feels before a harmonic world attracting thereof”. The great Critics of Eminescu’s creationsMihai Cimpoi detaches, in the prose of poet, the intuitive instinct of a promising future focused oncompetitiveness of competence (gifted) of searching and finding a space of our authenticity (of




Graciousness favorable to the maximum engagement of the will of power, “The will of power appearsnot only as power that reduces and underestimates the relational (interpretive) meanings, but also aswill of harmonization, as “science of clear relationship”(5, page 18). The Romanian researcher, IonIanoşi, in the preface to the Phenomenology of art, warns that, in general, in the “Phenomenology ofspirit”, Hegel predicts an empire of freedom, which Lectures on aesthetics will detail in relation to artas being one of the most important areas of freedom, we shall also add here that the genius (brilliance)is always dialectic, and the ultimate equivalent of dialectics is freedom (Phenomenology of art, p.XCIX-XCX).

5. INTERRELATION MULTIPLE GRACES – MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

The scientific annals prove that Gardner’s theory about the multiple intelligences has a great heuristicvalue and the reductionisms are initially from the start. Thus, to the question “How to educate themultiple intelligences?”, Gardner replied that there is not a unique and single recipe or formula forthe education of intelligences. The theory of multiple intelligences attempts to describe the evolutionand topography of the human spirit, not to develop a certain type of spirit or a particular kind ofhuman being (Gardner, 1996, p.72).This is what suits to the principle of Graciousness regarding therecognition and admission of the human factor as individualized general intellect at the level ofpreserving / evolving the epistemic germinations. Of course, no one can be predisposed to develop acertain type of spirit or a particular kind of human being – this would move the epistemic authenticitywhich would directly hit in the principle of general axiology, the one of Graciousness, towards whichfact the evolving shall freely occur in line with the own laws of epistemic germinations–to do gracestowards the positive possibilities of instinct of self-formations. The advantage of completions awarenessis obvious in all kinds of intelligences which also carry and bear the universal character (nature); thepath to universality being directly covered on the path of authenticity of own internalizations(introversions). Calming or increasing the longing for adventure occurs for us through the natural lawof exteriorization of internalizations (introversions): to do graces in a certain favor. What is therelocation of the nine (multiple graces) requirements of Pardon (reprieve) does not mean more than theharmonization of all contingences (concerns) of general axiological principle in a unique circulating(spreading) process of integral formation/evolution of the creative individuality as regards the pre-dispositional reflection of multiple intelligences, of sensitizing force of Longing as stimulant of self-manifestations.(our not. L.B.).

Thus, the expression multiple intelligences exhibited by the great expert may have at least two distinctmeanings: on the one hand, it may suggest the existence of more intelligences, relatively autonomous,from the same person, and on the other hand, it can induce us to the idea of existence of a singleintelligence (assimilated to factor G), manifested in different forms and types; a unique and single, butmultiform intelligence with more facets or appearances (aspects). Both meanings appear somehowjustified, in Gardner’s book being suggested an almost perfect synonymy of terms… The intelligence isan entity, a homunculus, indirectly measurable by various tests”. The multiple graces, however, aremultiple functional possibilities (regarding the whole formative process) of estimation and controltrial of the case by the effect produced at the level of multiform intelligence.

The experts in the field argue that the Theory of multiple intelligences is not completed, exhausted, noteven under theoretical report; Gardner himself admits that there could also exist, in principle, otherintelligences, not considered in the original theory or that their number could be restricted; moreover,there are similar competing theories which TIM resembles to; for example, the three-arched theory ofintelligence of Sterenberg believes that intelligence has three dimensions: componential/analytical,




practical contextual and creative experiential. The priorities of multiple graces are the priorities of theopportunities to especially enter in the graces of three-arched theory of intelligence of Sterenberg:componential/analytical, practical contextual and creative experiential –according to our observationsto Sterenberg, the intelligence appears under the aspect of value product – as finality of theinteraction of individualized and customized multiple Graces – human, phenomenon and numen.Gardner himself notes approaches (proximities) between the practical intelligence postulated bySterenberg and the interpersonal intelligence from TIM. However, as a general principle, he states thatit is not desirable a theoretical eclecticism, but a strong, consistent theory with a great explanatory andpredictive value (Gardner, 1996, p.59), it is a truth that fully ensures completing virtuosity toGraciousness as general principle and global space of complex spiritual exploitation.

6. HUMAN, HORIZON OF MYSTERIES - HUMAN, HORIZON OF GREAT VIRTUESWe consider that becoming is producing and has to be produced from the moment when we all, who ishired on the realm of education, will formatively opt for Phylosofy of education based on identificationan optimum pathways during the cognition process, on authentic identification of becoming oncompetitive level.

Organizational Chart N.1




Or, the space of self-completions has to be divinatory one, centered on Human as right horizon ofmysteries (by Lucian Blaga); centered on Human as right horizon of Great Virtues – by our vision (Org.1-2). By John Dewei, a filosophy of education, as any other theory, has to be formulated in words andsymbols.

But real problem is something more than just verbal one: it is about a plan, that education has tofollow(5.p.58) In visor of our preoccupations this plan, this leading path is the one of ascension: Knowinghow to get into graces of valuable time – Knowing how to get into graces of valuable space. Or, the ninepossibilities of the principle of Graciousness, configure the epistemic model of romanian-moldovanintellect, epistemic profile of authenticity of becoming. The following schemes demonstrate the fact thatGraciousness is a general axiologic principle, and also is a principle of academic integrality of formationthe „whole personality” (2). Or, the culture of upright philological education conceives and continuesthrogh „this plan” – general axiological principle „that education has to follow”.

The enigma (OCI/GM) Human, horizon of integral cognition is deciphered at several stages ofclassess at regulation/autoregulation through cause-effect. Here the classes of Graciousness are ofobjectives formation, but the classes of free arbiter are of self-evaluation of competences on the path ofbecoming; reporting on this fact classes of Graciousness have quantitative - divergent character ofdiscovering the world of mystery – of multiple facets of internalizations – the object of self-cognition isincited differentially on the level of multiple disciplinarity; Classes of Free Arbiter - convergentqualitative character of self-valuing, of manifestation of Great Virtues on the level of inter-transdisciplinarity: multiple intelligences – multiple graces. Thus we can demonstrate that in theintegral space of competitive valorizations –necessities, possibilities, capabilities - palpitatepreponderance of reporting multiple Graces vis-a-vis the nine possibilities of Graciousness (noticedabove). While capacity designates possibility of individual (power of the will) to accumulate asubstantial amount of cognitive energy, possibility hires multiple graces to the bar of valuable time(meta-cognitive) of interaction of multiple intelligences. Interactivity in this way, focuses on the twopoles group: a) multiple Graces b) multiple intelligences (in our case - intrapersonal and linguisticintelligences) transcends phenomenally in augmentative optimal process ...Furthermore deliberatereflections within the hours free arbiter, being powered motivationally intrinsic-extrinsic reputesgrouting of completion on the valorized self.

Human - double significance of the same content as the impulse of self-cognition.

I. Human, horizon of mysteries (by Lucian Blaga). M-matter, environment, V-value / evaluation; P-creative product, creativity, I-inspiration / creative stimulus, C-creator ; F-shape/ project creation.PAG-principle of general axiology, SGR-space of Graciousness, ERPI - eternal return to the square ofthe hypotenuse. On the level of formative process based on Graciousness, complex cognition favoredto investing / conversion in skills - needs and possibilities culminate with the true art of humanawareness through cognition - creativity - communication.

II. Human, horizon of Great Virtues (by Liuba Botezatu)

Focusing on Human, as the right integral value. Horizon of Great Virtues; Letter M– three of V: value,life, victory/virtue - the sacred prevalence on the profane. Human can be discovered just in the space ofGraciousness – G, available for its harmonized / ubiquitous quintessence. EU – humanist education,.Education froms firstly the person; SEG – Educaţional space of Graciousness; SE from SEG-educational standarts/ norms of behaviour. LA from LAG– Free arbiter, capacity of self to self-arbitrary, to be aware of meanings through satisfaction of the continuing need for exceeding/self-exceeding. C – Cognition, culture, quality; CEL – Culture of linguistic education; CELA – Culture of




literary-artistic education; EU/CEL/A – the other, retrovision of inverted self seen with „another eye”.Self Recording into a whole.

Organizational Chart N. 2

7.

GRACIOUSNESS, THE RIGHT PRINCIPLE OF GENERAL AXIOLOGY, expresses theintegration of personality as an individualized value into the context of universal values throughrespecting the following exigencies:

I. The possibility of return to the human essence:· True comprehension of beginnings of becoming: “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all

wisdom” Aristotle;

· Mind and revelation/relaxation of continuity of human becoming;

· Free arbiter – the basic criteria of what is achieved.

II. The possibility of creative self-determination:· Unity – activity/play – feast of the soul;

· Personality who creates cultural values – absolute value;




· Plenary presence of beauty and didactic harmony;

· Beauty – the highest final value as a vital part of creation.

III. The possibility of continuous formation:· Freedom – continuous process of the approval of the Self: will – motivation – goal;

· Alignment to qualitative education management;

· Originality of forms of interpretation of Solomon Proverbs in cognition of wisdom/ Bible.

IV. The right for point of view

· Open and free expression of opinion, respecting moral laws;

· Acknowledgement the personality as the fact of respecting the other’s freedom;

· Stimulation/encouraging the outlet from guardianship: “Have the courage to use your ownmind”/ I. Kant;

· Acceptance the extraordinary intellectual culture: right, common interest, credit;

V. The possibility of self-regulation:

· “The limit of the possibility to be free is inability to common freedom”/ I. Kant;

· Respecting the objectivity as the common condition of open communication and harmonizationof contradictions;

· Confession of mistakes – the sign of special wisdom in promotion of virtues;

· Management of self-regulation abilities on the stage of formation.

VI. The possibility to align with common ideal of life;

· Focusing on common life ideal;

· Human as a phenomenon is not born as formed personality, but he becomes a personality;

· Align with national- Christian and general human values; embodiment into life of the main rulesof “small game – big game”.

VII. The possibility of sublimation through spirituality:

· Respecting the scientific truth reporting on moral traditions;

· Adequate attitude to three-dimensionality: way/movement, space, time;

· Respecting the special psycho-intellectual structure of nation that you represent;

· Recognition of the language of the country you live in as the highest value of open spiritualityon the way to universality.

VIII. The possibility of recognition the personality as the global value:

· Individuality and identity as means and goal of social integration;

· Citizen – means and purpose of social integration;




· Stimulation love towards life, eliminating pressing and violation;

· Solidarity and fair economic order;

· Gender equality.

IX. The possibility of re-consigning the Graciousness as an universal axiological principle:

· Knowing how to get into graces of valuable time;

· Knowing how to get into graces of own epistemic configurations;

· Knowing how to raise self-authenticity on global axiological level of becoming;

· Knowing how to love your neighbor as yourself;

· Knowing how to be resourceful;

· Knowing how to continuously connect the level of competitiveness;

· Knowing how to get into graces of valuable space – to develop yourself as an integral value;

· Knowing how to get into graces of the nine possibilities of the general axiological principle ofGraciousness;

· Knowing to pass the barriers of strategic framework at all levels of education and to integrateinto the space of social activity;

· Knowing how to wear with dignity the Divine – Human Mandate;

All of the exigencies of integrator principle of Graciousness, having as base an upright support,individualized by steps/exigencies, targets in fund the same finality – aspirations towards eternity,beauty, where, on the path of norming realizations, everybody will be encouraged.

8. HUMAN, THE HORIZON OF MULTIPLE GRACESMupltiple graces configure the epistemic model of fenomenology of the human intellect reporting onthe nine possibilities of the Graciousness as the right principle of the general axiology.

Knowing how to get into the space of graces of valuable time urges one of the competences of muptiplegraces of our existence. Besides, this explication in our case has the competitive facet: Knowing how tobe resourseful (in time) on the level of the possibility Knowing how to wear with dignity the divinemandate – Human, right horizon of complex cognition. Or, the path of breaking the limits of the historictime, the mysterious way of divinity – that is the one of Graciousness as the right principle of generalaxiology, mostly beginning from the school has to start with the „eternal return to the square ofhypotenuse” as completing requirement, the „return of duality to essence”. Each of these two formulasof our challenges on the course of discounting the truth of cognition, in a way follows the purpose ofundiscovered completions. In the first position Human, horizon of mysteries, subject/object of educationis stimulated by/for this course forward the temptation/dicsovering/cognition the multiple facets of itsinner depths. In the second position Human, horizon of Great Virtues, the same subject/object ofeducation is provoced from/through its awareness to integralization/ skilfully handling its multiplefacets/completing possibilities into inventive products. In any case we strongly argue that theadvantages of optimization the cognition proces are, for sure, not in outdated idolizing of theseinitiations, even nice ones,(perfection was always performed/is posted indefinitely), but especially in




assuming a great responsibility , a big competitive risc (mostly the competitivity with yourself) initiatedby modern didactics to find plausible version of perpetual excellence (of self and of the majority) on thescale of virtual completions. We have to keep in mind that the process of durable cognition is based oncompetitivity, on competence: Knowing how to learn. By R. W. Emerson, its impossible to speak aboutlearning process untill the pupil/student is brought to the same state of spirit like yours or to the levelof same principles that you have. There is a transfusion. He becomes You and You become He. Thisinterpretation seems to be the Divine one, that comes down exactly from the space of Graciousness –space of our bitter searchings.

Or in our vocational interpretations the optimal path of humanization is the one of interactionRetroaction - Graciousness or Graciousness – Retroaction; the defining function as the right moderneducational technologie, being the one of regulation the cause through effect, and the one ofGraciousness – as one of reconstruction of an environment/global space of human sensibilization. Theprimacy of competitiveness on the path of completion belongs to Graciousness as the right generalaxiological principle. The primary function of harmonization, of interaction of all of the values in the„whole personality”(T.Callo); the path of cognition being the one of motivational harmonization:intrinsic and extrinsic. Retroaction and Graciousness are two completing facets of this complex processof self-knowledge.

In this effect Graciousness as the right general axiologic principle of humanization of the cognitionprocess has a complex retroactive character reporting the fact that the bases of interaction betweencognition and morality, cognition and intelligence, cognition and creativity, cognition and comunication,cognition and metacognition, are founded.

The coordinates of the ascension Human, horizon of mysteries – Human, horizon of great virtues servethree biblical phrases:

1. God created the man in his own image and likeness;

2. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

3. Love your neighbour as yourself.

9. PERSPECTIVES OF ACADEMIC INTERRELATIONS

„Creativity is motivated by human tendence of self-realization, the necessity to manifest full potential ofthe horizon of cognition. The impuls of creativity appears in context of self-evaluation than that ofpreoccupation to the evaluation made by others” By Carl Rogers(1954) Thus in this line ofhumanization self evaluation is certified as the right remedy to stimulate / encourage the creativity.Graciousness as retroactive mobilizing process allocates this stimulatory chance during the hours of freearbiter through which the individual makes avaliable the possibility of self-awareness of his ownvocation of preoccupations of connection of his actantial demarche to the exigencies of principle ofhuman dignity rendered on concrete motivations. In this effect, we speak about the opportune respect ofhypothesis of dual motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic) of Amabile (1983) in (4. p.91). From this pointof view lessons of free arbiter can be identified as lessons of hiring a specific relevant psicho-intelectualcomfort, awareness of self-responsibility in positioning of new trials on some evolutionary segment,free hiring in space of authenticity and cognition the great possibilities. Especially during these classesGraciousness is certified as the right starting point for multiple graces and appropriate access to multipleintelligences.




By R. Oschse (1990) ,,If the intelligence means selecting and shaping the circumstances, it is creativity(4. p.104). Adapting to a new working environment is also a condition of creativity. Creativity in caseof adaptation is favored by calibration the requirements on front of the jointly interested environment.One environment based on valuable principles creates another values. And the purported value willalways know how to work for recompliance an environment, favorable for itself. The possibility tochoose, in a great measure, is due to the possibility of obtaining and handling the freedom. But fullliberty of creation is possible through achieving a diverse horizon/space of cognition andcommunication. Or, to know means to create, to communicate, to sensitize. Human creates from thenecessity to communicate: from the inner impuls to supplement a goal of cognition reported on a kindof communication / externalization of the self towards completeness. Paraphrasing Tudor Vianu, „apersonality communicates and speaks with himself”, through the product of his creation. On the path ofGraciousness these completing facets comunication and creativity are considered to be true omnipresentmotivations. On the level of Graciousness optimization is the process of interaction: cognition –metacognition.

Multiple graces – the nine possibilities/exigences of graciuosness – are related to integral valueing ofself-fulfillment space. Knowing how to wear with dignity the Divine Mandate. They involve interactionof cognition facets in plummet of teleological struggles: purpose, means, principle, ideal as the rightsupport of values, serving the essense of seed that we have.

Multiple graces draw their start from Ancient Rome, by DEX of romanian language, throughembodiments of the three goddesses of beauty, wisdom, love, kindness – continued by us through ourseed and Christianity, that protect us: love, faith, hope ... honesty, justice, grace, respect, loyalty, esteem,intelligence...

Multiple intelligences are a various optimum path of resignation of multiple graces (materialization ofcognitive objectives into finalities) reached the crossroads cognition / metagognition - To beresoursefull in solving a/some difficuilt problems, related to diverse active areas - are virtualcompetitive events.

The hypotenuse of the Whole Square / space of axiological resignations means the proximal /intermediate zone of interactive parts: multiple graces – multiple intelligences. The finality of optimalmonitorizations is thus manifesting as integral one: Knowing how to orient into graces of valuabletime, namely Knowing how to be resoursefull since knowing how to wear with dignity the DivineMandate - Human.

Getting into the good graces of valuable time also means getting into the graces of total cognition;penetration/interpenetration into the depth of stylistic matrix of inner nature – facets of the mystery ofinteractional depths from the beginnings hither; proscribed insignia of its own virtuosity towardschallenges of full realization.

The key to deciphering the enigma of completing multiple facets: Man, horizon of complete cognition,otherwise is in posession of each individual, being offered in the school at all levels at the subject ofeach academic discipline separately and all together in the context of disciplinarity, interdisciplinarity,transdisciplinarity.

The go-off is occasioned in the beginning of each academic year inside of each discipline during theclasses of Graciousness named also Introduction into studying the self-fulfillment during the givencourse. The puprose of this initiation is basic one: To help the individual to fully engage in the work ofself-discovery (both within and outside of the classroom), of diverse alterations on the way of greatvitrues.




On the level of conversion of multiple intelligences into competences, Graciousness as principle andprocess of axiologic hiring, performs its functial potentialities (act of grace and its effect/outcome) inthe hypostasis of means and purpose of full realizations. As means it is on the level of multiple graces,as a purpose it is a valuable finality - multiple graces - Beauty, Love, Intelligences.

By Gardner Intelligence has a nominated character. By Hainaut, it has syncretic character, pendulatingbetween nominating and challenge for action. By us – it has a vocational character of Graciousness.

Multiple facets, in an optimum processual view, assemble the priority issues of a plausible educationalapproach of arranging the intended purpose: framing into valuable space. Between multiple facets ofoptimization the educational demarch on the general level of systematic adjustment cause - effect wecan enumerate:

Multiple facets of cognition assemble academic disciplines in educational sciences - philosophy ofeducation, physiology, pedagogy, psychology, biology, physics, logic, mathematics, metaphysics,chemistry, linguistics, ethics/aesthetics, art theories of literary and artistic knowledge, the interpretativeart, the art of communication / interrelation of managerial arts in general;

1. Multiple graces: valuable interpretative interaction based on the nine possibilities of the generalaxiological principle;

2. Multiple intelligences - vocational preoccupations vis-a-vis the eight-nine types of multipleintelligences, formulated by Hovard Gardner (1983,1993,1995): linguistic, logical-mathematical,spatial, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal (achieving a high level of self-awareness), corporal-kinesthetic, naturalist;

3. Multiple facets of creativity on the level of case study: hypothesis of duble motivation: intrinsic andextrinsic vis-a-vis the self-evaluation as the right triple epistemological interaction: the locus of creator,creator roles, creator’s product (4, p.127). In this context we say that intrinsic motivation subdued toexercises stimulates personality’s pleasure to learn, to increasingly penetrate the world of knowledgeand inevitable complicity for founding an environment of self-evaluation/self-improvement; that’s whya separate role is given to the classes of free arbiter, where divergent thinking will result, firstly, intosearching new information, new informational sources of extrapolation the truth; and then through thecontroversy (convergence) follows analysis and synthesis of „inverted world" - valuable contesting.

The syntagma Human, horizon of integral cognition overlaps so varied positioning horizon ofinvestigational framework on optimal benefits of multiple case study: 1. Polyfacetical integrity 2.Polarized interaction of identity; 3. Optimal Structuring: knowledge, purpose, impulse. 4. Valuabledurability.

In our educational approach “To know how to get into the graces of valuable time”, the Egoresearcher/creator becomes the epicenter of optimal employment of the substitution of multipleregulatory functions.

According to us, the multiple responsibilities of the Ego are:

- Knowing own possibilities (Strengths);- Knowing the promising mystery of own inwardness;

- Challlenging modalities of productive integration into the field of social activities;

- Harmonization the differences;




- Replenishment of interiorizations;

- Deliberating awareness of own completions on the way to becoming;

- Solving the problems: cause - effect;

- Assuming the risk to competitiveness;

- Increasing personal responsibility;

- Integration into valuable time and space;

- Ascension by spirituality;

- Connection to the ideal of social humanization.

Graciousness as the principle of general axiology expresses the condition of self-realization throughreason and revelation.

REFERENCESBotezatu, L.C. 2009, Retroacţiunea şi Graţierea în cultura educaţiei moderne/postmoderne in AnnalesUniversitatis Apulensis Philologica, Alba Iulia, Nr.10. p.255-268

Botezatu, L.C. 2012 The Priorities of the Principle of Graciousness in the professional preparationversus For a culture of philological education axed on competences , Journal of International ScientificPublications:Educational Alternatives, Volume10, Part -4.ISSN,1313-2571, European Union, Bulgaria.Published at:http:// www.scientific-publications net.

Callo, T. 2010, Cartela de funcţionare a unei paradigme pedagogice în ,, Schimbarea paradigmei înTeoria şi Practica Educaţională’’, Vol.I, pag.31, Chişinău.

Sterenberg, Robert J.2005,Manual de creativitate, POLIROM.

Cimpoi,M.2008, Nietzshe, măgarul(cămila) leul şi copilul)în: Sud-Est cultural S.R.L., N1, p.18.)

Cтепанова М.А. 2010, Псхологическая наука и философия в сфере образования: современноесостояние и задачи, Вопросы философии, N6.стр.67-79.

Frumos, F. 2008, Didactica. Fundamente şi dezvoltări cognitiviste. POLIROM.

Jacques D`hondt., 1998, Hegel și hegelianismul, POLIROM, Iaşi.

Hegel, 1979, Fenomenologia spiritului, România, Bacău. Cuvînt introductiv de I.Ianoși

Jonatan Barnes, 1996, Aristotel, Humanitas.

Pâslaru Vl.,10 iunie, 2000, Principiul pozitiv al educației, Făclia, Chișinău.




AN EDUCATION PROPOSAL BASED ON ICT TECHNOLOGIES

AND ACTIVE DIDACTIC METHODOLOGIESJ.V. Capella, S. Rubio and R. Ors

Polytechnic University of Valencia

Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain

Abstract

Students should have the knowledge of the current technological situation that allows them to beintegrated without difficulty in the industrial world, and on the other hand, they should have capacityto adapt to the constant changes that take place in the industry.

In this paper, a combination of more dynamic and active methodologies are proposed, applying didactictechniques as case method, implementation of real (simplified) projects and group work with digitaltablets and simulators, promoting a bigger approach to the real engineering world.

The application of the mentioned techniques pursues to develop in the students the abilities that theywill need in their professional future as “to know how to make” and “to learn how to learn” using thenew technologies, developing the required professional skills.

Finally, in order to complete the formation of the engineer the following aspects are considered:guarantee some general basic knowledge, improve the student's effort in the practical aspects, train thestudent to work in group, and to achieve that the student develops the capacity of adaptation to newchallenges.

Key words: ICT application in education, educational innovation multidisciplinary project, innovationin higher teaching education, active didactic methodologies

1. INTRODUCTION

The continuous evolution of the computer engineering in the industry, with new applications andchallenges, and the kind of students that the current industry requires have made necessary to stimulatein our students the aptitudes that allow to facilitate their adaptation to this environment that leans onfundamentally the assimilation of very practical contents (Capella, 2012).

Therefore, on the one hand the students should have the knowledge of the current technological situationthat allows them the integration without difficulty in the industrial world, and for other, to have thecapacity to adapt successfully to the constant changes that take place in the Industrial Informatics sector.

In this way, the problems with the traditional teaching methodologies, as for example too theoreticalteachings and high abandonment rates, together with the high number of students, will be tried to solvewith a methodological renovation based on a combination of active didactic techniques and applyingthe information and communication technologies (see Table 1). An important piece is the projectdevelopment that consists in simplified real problems that the student must solve and implement inteams and present them in public to be able to overcome the subject.




2. PROPOSED ACTIVE DIDACTIC METHODOLOGIES

To achieve the explained objectives, focused in the obtaining of the capacities and necessary abilitiesfor the future professional exercise, it becomes necessary the application of methodologies (Cano, 2006)that allow guaranteeing their attainment (see Fig.1). For this reason, in the design of the subject,activities guided to the student's bigger active participation have been carried out, in order to the pupilgenerates conceptual schemes and doesn't inherit them of the professor, increasing the critical spirit ofthe students that will allow to develop the described abilities (Smith, 2001).

The innovation project implies a restructuring of the organization and methodology of the course, andits basic objectives are:

· Assure the theory-practice integration.

· Rationalize the learning assessment process.

· Provide an active and personalized teaching.

· Foment the critical spirit of the pupil, as well as their work capacity in group.

· Relate the teaching with the industrial reality and the socioeconomic environment.

· To give more importance to the formation than to the information, that is to say, “know how tomake” than only “know”.

· Center the student's attention in the basic concepts of the different disciplines.

For the achievement of the objectives three organizational pillars settle down: Teaching in classroom-laboratory: allows full theory and practice integration.

· Multidisciplinary laboratory: rebounds in a bigger interconnection between the subjects andenhances the global vision in the pupil.

For the correct development of the experience, two multidisciplinary laboratories that have 20 workplaces have been organized, with an occupation of three students per place. Each place consists of agroup of basic instruments, used in a common way in all the disciplines of each implied specialty(personal computer, power source, functions generator, digital multimeter, analog-digital oscilloscope,logical analyzer, etc.), and a collection of more specific equipment for each discipline (trainers,acquisition cards, PID regulators, programmable robots, dc and ac motors, sensors of illumination,temperature, humidity, etc.)

The new technologies and cloud computing can enhance traditional methods of learning but cannotreplace the human touch. Along with the advantages for these technologies in the learning process someresearchers will bring up some of the disadvantages that might be carefully addressed and resolved withother didactic techniques (Koc, 2013).




Fig. 1. Proposed combination of didactic methodologies and ICT technologies.

Table 1. Advantages and characteristics of several applied techniques.

Advantages Characteristics

Case method inlab: The studentfaces a concreteproblem –case–that describes areal situation ofthe professionallife

· The cases should outline a real situation. They will be extracted of real situations ofthe current industry.

· The cases should be clear and comprehensible.

· The cases should not suggest solutions.

· The selected cases should facilitate the participation and the critical spirit of thestudents.

· The time for the discussion and taking of decisions it should be limited.




Real projectsdevelopment:learning processbased on thestudent owncreativity and thatallows to learnhow to solve highorder realproblems

· Allows to develop the creativity.

· Connects the theory and its application.

· Integrates diverse knowledge.

· Allows to relate matters and subjects.

· Helps to achieve a more global formation

· Motivates the student proposing real cases.

Virtual tutoring:provide studentsanytime,anywhere,assistance andguidance in thelearning process

· Interactive (professor-students) work meetings

· Foments the “learn to learn” and that the students acquire a wider vision of thedisciplines.

· Consolidate the students knowledge.

3. AUTONOMOUS LEARNING STRATEGY

In the first place, it is necessary to elaborate a study guide where the learning that should be achieved ispresented to the student. These guides should be composed in first place by an introduction, where it isindicated to the student the objective that is pursued, the importance of the topic, their connection withother topics, etc. The following part consists on the activities plan, where some very concrete normsabout the activities that should carry out the student will be exposed, as well as the time that shoulddedicate to each one of them as minimum, etc. Finally, the information sources for the study(bibliography) should be referenced.

The pupil proceeds to carry out the study once the professor distributes or exposes the study guide. Firstthe student will analyze the steps to follow and should create a global vision, passing later on to carryout the learning of the content, reading the facilitated texts and bibliography, solving the suitableexercises and problems, etc. In this manner, the guided study is a teaching-learning process thatembraces a series of logical steps and that tries to get objectives such as understanding, problemsresolution and acquisition of abilities.

This technique favors the relationship professor-student at the same time that increases the student'sactivity in class, developing their responsibility in the work and helping them to discover for itself. Italso facilitates that the student goes assimilating a study methodology. Finally, this technique facilitatesthe continuous evaluation that is proposed as well as and the student self-evaluation.

With this technique, the students will learn the basic knowledge of the different themes. To achieve it,the basic bibliography of each chapter will be provided.




Fig. 2. Project developed by students in the laboratory.

4. CASE METHOD TECHNIQUE

This technique contributes to bring near the teaching-learning process to real situations that is a learningtechnique where the student faces before the description of a specific situation that outlines a problemthat must be understood, valued and solved by a group of people, through a discussion process.

The student faces a concrete problem –case– that describes a real situation of the professional life, andhi should be able to analyze a series of facts and to arrive to a reasoned solution through a discussionprocess in small work groups.

It is therefore a cooperative learning technique that foments the student's participation and develops theactivity and the critical spirit, preparing the student to take decisions, and teaching him to defend theirarguments and to contrast them with the opinions of the rest of the group components.




Designing cases it will be kept in mind the following guidelines:

· The cases should be clear and comprehensible.

· The selected cases should facilitate the participation and the critical spirit of the students.

· The description of problematic situations should be based on a theoretical foundation.

· The cases should outline a real situation. They will be extracted of real situations of the currentindustry.

· The main and secondary aspects of the information should be mingled.

· The time for the discussion and taking of decisions it should be limited.

This didactic resource is an active technique, and therefore centered fundamentally in the students work,but the professor activity is very important. The professor should expose the case with clarity, and shouldhave ability in raising important points that help the group in the proposed case analysis. Also, theprofessor should ask questions when the participants forget important aspects, or when confusedconclusions that the rest of the class does not question appear, as well as to relate the results of the casewith the theory that sustains it.

This technique develops the analysis capacity and reasoning, improves the work in group and favors themotivation from the student when feeling active agent of their own learning. The student also learnshow to structure complex problems developing synthesis capacity, and acquires certain practicalexperience when facing similar situations to those that are confronted in the engineering world,obtaining a integral formation. In definitive this technique allows the students to “learn to learn”, that isto say, to discover, to identify and to interpret the problems; to look for solutions, to foresee the obstaclesto these solutions and the possible remedies, to conceptualize and to deduce principles of the realsituations analysis.

The cases that are proposed have been selected following an educational approach that allows tostructure the practical contents (Pun, 2012). In this manner, cases related with the different networkprotocols levels are presented, and later on the students will have to implement their case solution in themini-project. The discussion and final proposal of each group will be implemented in their mini-project,in this way the students will experiment a real way the advantages and inconveniences that have beendebated in the first part (case study).

5. TUTORED PROJECT BASED LEARNINGThe student should learn to design and develop real systems (Fig. 2), where a computer system will becapable of controlling a process by means of the use of sensors and actuators through process interface,at the same time the operator can interact with the system through the user interface.

With this activity the student reaches some general basic knowledge and make an effort in the practicalaspects, foster abilities such as the work in group (Smith, 2001), capacity of adaptation to newchallenges, etc.

The projects consist of simplified real problems that the students should solve in a team of three students,with the tools and knowledge provided in the subject involved in the Educational Innovation Project.The proposed problems have not been solved in class, so it represents a challenge for their members.




Each student team should develop a system that integrates the computer equipped with an acquisitiondata card with control software developed by the student, analog and digital circuitry. The miniprojectwill be exposed to a jury and it will be necessary to present a report to each one of the implied subjects.The project evaluation will be common to the Educational Innovation Project involved disciplines andit will be part of the final mark (Capella, 2011).

To allow the complexity of the project doesn't obscure the true purposes, this should be simple and toembrace all the possible necessities. The analysis of the requirements is carried out in order to includein the project the key aspects of the subject and maintain acceptable dimension for the teams.

The resolution focus that can be given to the projects depends much of the student's previous knowledge,restricting in most of the cases the techniques and tools that can be used, because the purposes of thesubject could be confused with the explanation of a certain tool or formal Industrial Informatics systemsdesign technique. In our particular case, the student has the enough knowledge of analog and digitalelectronics and very basic knowledge of programming.

Starting from the previous knowledge of the students and with the objective that they learn how to designand develop a project with an appropriate user and process interfaces, non formal “top-down” designmethodologies are used, insisting in the “modular decomposition” and “information hiding” heuristicrules.

After planning and designing the computer system a modular decomposition representing theapplication skeleton is performed.

Each module will be refined and enlarged so that the student uses, in a practical manner, the knowledgethat he acquires in the course.

Finally, the projects development contributes with advantages such as the work in team development,to learn how to edit technical documentation, to present and discuss ideas, etc. contributing everythingto a better preparation to the labor market.

6. CONCLUSIONThis proposal has improved fundamental aspects as the student's motivation and the interaction with thestudents, combining different active methodologies. The projects development, also offers to the studenta global view of the problem. This learning technique can be applicable to many technical disciplines.

A special effort has been made in the assessment techniques design in order to induce the desiredaptitudes and abilities, being the real project development a very important tool.

The proposed strategy allows fomenting knowledge, abilities, attitudes and skills difficult to achieve bymeans of the classic teaching approach, obtaining very interesting learning results during theirapplication in our degrees.

REFERENCESCapella, J.V. (2012). Mejorar la educación semi-presencial en la Universidad. IV Congreso VirtualIberoamericano de Calidad en Educación a Distancia, 2012, p.1-10.




Cano, J., Lidon, I., Rebollar, R., Roman, P., Saenz, M.J. (2006). Student Groups Solving Real-lifeProjects. A Case Study of Experiential Learning. International Journal of Engineering Education,2006, No. 22, Vol. 6.

Capella, J.V., Ors, R. (2011). An innovative proposal for the industrial informatics discipline: a newmethodology enhanced by virtual tutoring and meetings. International Conference on Education andNew Learning Technologies, 2011, p. 941-946.

Chi, M., VanLehn, K. (2010). Meta-Cognitive Strategy Instruction in Intelligent Tutoring Systems:How, When, and Why. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, Vol. 13 No. 1, p. 25-39.

Kennedy, M.J., Thomas, C.N., Aronin, S., Newton, J.R., Lloyd, J.W. (2013). Improving teachercandidate knowledge using content acquisition podcast. Computers and Education, vol. 70, p. 116-127.

Koc, M. (2013). Student teachers' conceptions of technology: A metaphor analysis, Computer &Education, Vol. 68, Pages 1–8

Oye, N.D., Shallsuku, Z.K., Iahad, N. (2012). The Role of ICT in Education: Focus on UniversityUndergraduates taking Mathematics as a Course. International Journal of Advanced Computer Scienceand Applications, Vol. 3, No.2, 2012

Smith, K. A. (2001). Active, Interactive, Cooperative & Collaborative Learning, A Deans Summit onEducation for a Technological World, Baltimore, 2001.

Pun, S.K. (2012). Collaborative Learning: A Means to Creative Thinking in Design. InternationalJournal of Education and Information Technologies, No. 1, Vol. 6, p. 33-43.




CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A WORK PLACEMENT

OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUNG GRADUATESStefano Bonometti and Luca Refrigeri

Department of humanities, Social sciences and education, University of Molise

Via De Sanctis snc, 86100 Campobasso - Italy

Abstract

The paper presents a project developed from a perspective of lifelong learning, proposing strategiesand opportunities for empowerment, through the activation of a professional project in continuousdevelopment (Continuing Professional Development-CPD). The methodological elements of thisparticular educational path are characterized by centred on the learner, for a project dimension in alifelong learning perspective, referring to professional identity and, in addition, strongly rooted incontext. The CPD model supports the acquisition of skills for mapping and problem solving,implementation and testing of innovative content. It encourages a reflective attitude that leads the youngto observe their actions in the context of work and supports the ability to build relationships of trust thatcan strengthen the sense of organizational citizenship.

Key words: CPD, lifelong learning, young people, placement, human capital

1. INTRODUCTION

The Institute of Personnel and Development (IPD ) of the United Kingdom defines CPD as a constantkeeping up-to-date (updating) of the professional knowledge throughout the entire working life throughsystematic, informal or self-directed learning models.

A further definition, affirmed by the Royal Town Planning Institute and confirmed by the CPDCertification Service of London, indicates CPD as "the systematic maintenance, improvement andbroadening of knowledge and the development of personal qualities necessary for the execution ofprofessional and technical duties throughout the practitioner's working life" (Peel, 2005). The definitionemphasizes CPD as s systematic process within the professional development in order to maintain,increase and develop knowledge, skills and personal qualities throughout one’s working life. The keyfeatures can be summarized in four expressions: continuity through the whole working life, professionalrequirements, personal qualities, systematic nature of the process.

The approach to CPD requires:

- the mutual linking between organisational strategies and individual needs;

- the view of human resource management as an investment and not simply as a cost;

- the enhancement of learning on the job, taking care of the effective transfer of learning in theworkplace;

- the planning and designing of training activities at different levels of formality (Eraut, 2000) to supportlearning processes that correspond to the concept of Personal Development Plans (PDPs).




The key features of the definition which distinguish the CPD are represented by the continuity oflearning throughout the working life, the maintenance of high-level quality and competence ofprofessionalism, the development of knowledge, skills and personal qualities, the planning that ensuresa systematic process. These characteristics allow CPD to assume a fundamental role to facilitate theaccreditation process of professionals and to support the personal professional development and of thegroup.

2. APPROACHES TO CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTThe application of CPD can have three different approaches (Bonometti, 2013) that represent differentlevels of formalization of the process.

The first approach, defined “certified”, has a “standardized” structure with the designing of the processaccording to the rules and the culture of a specific profession. In fact, the scientific community and the"professional group" can determine the development-phases and the steps of continuing updating whichare essential to ensure a certain level of professionalism. The development of the process and the sharingagreement of the updating according to the rules guarantee public accreditation to the professional (insome cases with legal value). In such a case, the process of professional development (CPD) becomes asort of obligation while carrying out one’s profession and the lack of respect for the operationalguidelines may produce sanctions by the "professional group". The risk that may occur with thisapproach is to confine people exclusively within basic routine activities, asking them to perform astandard of disciplinary skills, rather than producing new ones and going beyond. It becomes a kind ofpre-formulated module of development which will give the necessary certification at the end. In theinternational healthcare sector all professional in medicine and nursing follow a learning program toensure the maintenance and development of the professional skills, just called CPD. A comparativestudy, Peck et al. (2000), compares the use of CPD in Canada, United States, Europe and Australia andhighlights the common elements and the differences. Among these common elements stand out:

a) the organization of CPD in credits, where the credits corresponds to a certain amount of learninghours,

b) the learning activities classified into three categories: live or outdoor activities (courses, seminars,conferences) which are external to all the workplace activities; internal activities that are developedstarting from concrete situations, practice (case study, peer counseling, interprofessional knowledgeexchange), enduring, learning proposals based on the creation of lasting material (print, database, webbased materials),

c) a greater commitment in situations where a certification is compulsory.

A second approach can be defined "organized", in other words it is characterized by the explicit planningof a consistent learning program in line with the indications given by the relevant organizational contextor in some cases by the scientific community. Compared to the previous path it is not connected to legalaspects and certifications. In this case, CPD is closely linked to the strategies of the Human ResourceDevelopment (HRD) and, converging individual needs and position requirements, a skill developmentprocess is defined in line with the strategies and the expectations of the belonging organization. Aparticular attention is paid to the transfer of knowledge in the workplace and at the same time theworkplace must provide continuing learning opportunities to the people. The characteristic of thissecond approach is given by the close correlation between personal professional expectations andbusiness development prospects. In the organization an effective people strategy, a strategic thinking




applied to the development of human resources in line with the organizational strategies is put intopractice, in which CPD can be considered a tool in supporting management and professionaldevelopment with an eye to the future. This option is pursued by the Human Resource Development inorder to encourage the professional integration process and role integration. Some researches(Lammintakanen & Kivinen, 2012) show that the practice of HRD is not always aligned with the originalfeatures of CPD where the priority shall be given to the benefits of the individual and professionaldevelopment.

Finally, the third approach, called "personalized", presents CPD as an opportunity for individual growthwhich is less bounded to organizational needs but, nevertheless, related to a specific working context.Compared to the previous approaches, this one could seem less systematic and continuing, leaving morepossibilities to the participant to design the process and to redefine the objectives to achieve. Thismethod finds more application possibilities during the internship of post-graduate participants, wherethe practitioner is facing the professional integration and role integration with the support of a projectdesigned by a third party in addition to the company and the employee. This process requires a definitionof the own initial competences and the planning of the learning process with a possible redesign of themodule in case of need, in order to respond in an appropriate way to the expectations of the participantand the organizational context. The development of a personalized CPD implies as specificcharacteristic the presence of a third party who is involved in the negotiation between participant andcompany, in order that the skill development process allows sufficient time for the training and not justthe time convenient to the organization. The places with similar characteristics which carry out thisfunction between worker and organization are the placement services of the universities or colleges, theemployment centres of the provinces/districts, the vocational education centres.

The three different approaches, however, share some fundamental features, such as:

a) formal and informal learning opportunities;

b ) the opportunity to activate reflective practices and to enhance learning from experience;

c) documentation of the improvements through tools such as portfolio;

d ) reflections on the performances with peers and experts.

In particular, the reflective practices have revolutionized the models of adult learning, emphasizing therelationship between theory and practice. Within this relationship CPD becomes a central learningmethod that adopts techniques connected to research-action, in order to develop new knowledge and toovercome the contradictions that exist in the real working contexts.

3. THE PILLARS OF CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

A project of continuing professional development (CPD) is considered a learning action during the workplacement and a socialization process with the professional context and role when a real and properapprenticeship is provided that turns knowledge into competencies. During this period the new entrants,through a continuing internship or during the professional integration, activate their knowledge andskills linking them to the specific working context in order to develop the appropriate skills requestedby the daily activities in the workplace. It is a challenging time where the willingness to learn of theemployees and the commitment of the company to provide learning opportunities are at the top, aimingat the achievement of the fixed objectives.




The Italian experience presents the opportunity of a specific work contract called "apprenticeship" whichhas the characteristic of a work contract with a work-based learning program aimed at the workplacement of young people by obtaining a profession and/or a specific professionalism. It is a "learningcontract" which alternatively combines working periods and training periods that take place inside thecompany or externally in specialized training centres.

The contract gives the opportunity to the company to hire and train the new workforce at favourablelabour costs. Having these advantages, the employer is obliged to provide professional training to theapprentice and to pay him a salary for the work. There are three types of apprenticeship contract:

a) Training apprenticeship for diploma and professional qualification, addressed to young people agedbetween 15 and 25 years. It allows to complete the compulsory education and to fulfil the right-duty toeducation and training till 18 years. It is a chance to achieve a qualification: a qualification asprofessional operator after three years and/or a professional diploma at the end of the fourth year.

b) Professional apprenticeship, designed for young people aged 18 (or 17) to 29, in order to achieve oneof the professional qualifications included in the collective agreements, aimed at increasing basic,transverse and professional skills.

c) Advanced training and research apprenticeship for young people aged 18 (or 17) to 29. It has differentobjectives, such as allowing the access to a company and at the same time achieving a higherqualification: secondary school diploma, higher technical specialization, university degree (bachelor,master and PhD), higher qualification.

To make all this happen some essential pedagogical-didactical approaches are needed to favour the startof the learning / teaching processes.

3.1. Workplace Learning and Learning Environment

The first requisite is considering the workplace as an opportunity of Workplace Learning. The workplaceis not only the place where intellectual or practical activities are carried out but also the place site withcontinuing learning opportunities. This means that the range of activities that take place, daily, in theworkplace provide learning opportunities which are supported by actions that Eraut (2000) lists asfollows:

- learning from doing routine work activities;

- learning on the job through a learning plan with the involvement of a certain variety of roles connectedto the own role;

- informal and occasional learning through meetings with other workers;

- both informal and formal learning through the reflection on artefacts in the workplace.

This means that people, the work activities, the materials and the equipment all become learningresources.

The change of the workplace culture leads to another requisite connected with the Workplace Learningwhich is the change of the work organization that must become an adequate learning environment(Billet, 2004). The organized learning takes place within a structured environment so that every activityand every place can provide learning and changing opportunities.




For workplace learning it is necessary to take into account the combination of the culture, theprofessional stories and the work organization that will at least create two types of learningenvironments, called "expansive" or "restrictive" learning environment (Ibidem).

The analysis conducted by A. Fuller, L. Unwin ( 2004) leads to identify a list of factors that shape theenvironment according to an Expansive Learning approach. This list is based on the antinomy between“expansive-restrictive” which, in the opinion of the authors, allows a better understanding of the actionsto be adopted to define a learning environment.

The comparison between the two methods emphasizes the different actions that will be needed to createthe learning environment. Between these two extremes, actually in the continuum are identified the mosteffective practices for the different organizational contexts. Focusing on the "expansive" approach theabove mentioned research has identified a certain number of actions that allow the realization of anExpansive Learning Environment.

Among them, the most significant are: the participation and commitment to diverse communities ofpractice in order to favour the exchange of different competencies and skills. The attention is also paidto the realized learning experiences (or to realize) in other organizational contexts, overcoming theinsurmountable "fear of being copied". This mental approach, if related to a genuine professionalinterest, supports and strengthens the organizational identity.

3.2. Peer Learning and Tutoring

Another requisite for the start of CPD is given by what Eraut defines learning from others through peerlearning (peer to peer) as well as learning from experts or significant others (tutoring). In a researchconducted by M. Eraut (2007), that evidences some approaches that support Expansive LearningEnvironment (Fuller & Unwin, 2004), the persons interviewed affirm that "learning from others" in theworking context represents one of the most significant methods for professional development.

This approach can be placed, according to Eraut, in the continuum where on one side there is theindividual dimension and on the other the organizational dimension. Referred to the individual one, thefulcrum of "learning from others" is the importance of the tacit knowledge of everyone to share dailywith the colleagues while carrying out one’s profession. On the opposite side of the continuum in theorganizational dimension the reference point of learning is mainly based on "propositions and writtendocuments" which are progressively more formalized. According to Eraut, "the learning process startedby the worker moves within this continuum in accordance with some central reference points: the ownpersonal dispositions and the manager’s support" (Ibidem, p. 36). In other words, the effectiveness of alearning environment that gives value to the support and mutual help is fully implemented if it is holdup, on one hand, by the personal motivation and the willingness to a social participation and, on theother hand, by the workplace configuration and the organizational culture that encourages and stimulatesco-participation and collaboration.

The importance of the personal dimension for the creation of working environments has also beeninvestigated by A. D. Ellinger and M. Cseh (2007), who identified a certain number of factors, such asbehaviour and communication that facilitate the learning process of the participants. The authorsindicate the listed factors as behaviours that experts can adopt to facilitate the learning, mentioningmanagers and responsible persons in charge, by improving confronting techniques and forms of co-participation starting from daily experiences.

The main abilities of the facilitators are the following:

- listening;




- observing,

- providing feedback;

- questioning (also in the sense of investigating, for instance: What do you think to do? Why?)

- supporting the confrontation (finding meaning and justification);

- supporting the self-analysis of the issues and processes step by step;

- showing the necessity of the confrontation with the experts;

- sharing materials and resources;

- using examples;

- removing handicaps;

- broadening perspectives;

- focusing on images and templates.

The effectiveness of these factors depends on the fulfilment of two aspects related to the organizationalculture. The first cultural factor to mention is the firm commitment of the managers to lifelong learningthat they personally manifest, in other words, they act as model for others, supporting and encouragingthe professional development of all employees. The second cultural factor that the organization mustpursue is the recognition of the training activities of the units as a fundamental aim for all the staff. Therecognition of the value of learning is also emphasized by the knowledge sharing through informal andformal activities (Ibidem, pages 445-446).

Further researches on the use of CPD in the training of social care staff (P. Sobiechowska, & M. Maisch,2007) evidence the importance of the tutor’s role as learning facilitator for a successful training. Thetutoring role includes technical, professional and personal competencies therefore the tutor is not just alearning facilitator but he is also qualified with regard to the role that the participants have to achieve.It is a strategic role that promotes the autonomy of the participant, encourages learning from experience,supports self-reflection and at the same time, provides specific indications with regard to the expectedcompetence development.

4. METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF CPDWhat the steps of a professional development process concerns we take some illustrative indicationsfrom the model provided by C. Abrutyn and L. Danielson and used by P.G. Rossi for the definition ofportfolio (Rossi, 2005). The model consists of four stages/phases that represent the cycle of developmentof the portfolio according to a logic that doesn’t limit an one-off application but with a regular procedureand method. The starting point is the model developed by Danielson and Abrutyn that articulates theprocess in four phases: a) Collection, defining the criteria to identify artifacts related to the objectiveand the participant; b) Selection, selecting the materials, specifying the criteria for the selection of thematerials that meet the educational goals fixed for the portfolio c) Reflection, including reflections ineach section of the portfolio and a global reflection; d) Projection, revising periodically materials andreflections on learning included in the portfolio to verify the achieved goals and those to achieve. Themodel is characterized by the integration of the four phases of the process. During the first phase it isdecided how and from which source selecting the material, the second phase involves the selection of




the material, in the third phase reflection and self-assessment are activated, as well as in the fourth phasecan be identified with the analysis of the achieved goals and the definition of the objectives to achieve.

These phases can be applied during the structuring phase of the CPD, broadening the perspective beyondthe evaluation. In particular, the CPD process consists of 4 macro-phases (V. Cross, C. Liles, J. Conduit& J. Price, 2004) and it starts with an initial briefing that includes the period of time where tutor andtrainee know each other, the contract agreement and the definition of the competency standards. Theinitial period is crucial for the prosecution of the process. It’s the moment to develop a relationship builton trust and respect and to recognize the roles and the mutual commitments to achieve the goals.

This specific stage/phase provides for the Educational Agreement and the Start of the process with alook to the standards related to the role and the competences to achieve. These references will becomecentral elements even during the intermediate and final evaluation.

EducationalAgreement

Period of time where tutor and participant know each other and signa learning contract (Educational Agreement). It’s the moment todevelop a relationship built on trust and respect, to recognize theroles and the mutual commitments to achieve the goals.

Briefing

phase

Start

Collecting of internal and external material that allows thedefinition of the competency standards of the role. The material canbe placed in a personal folder with all the material that willdocument the professional development.

The second macro-phase, Collection, highlights the importance of the active role of the participant whohas the commitment to record the significant events in his personal diary (log or blog) that may occurafter the work placement. Since the CPD scheme is characterized by continuing learning the followingphases can become cyclical and can be proposed after a certain time interval. The evidences recorded inthe personal diary will refer to the first professional experiences, in case of newly hired or interns, orwill mainly focus on critical events during the following training periods.

Personal log (Blog)Recording the significant events related to the workplace (bothpositive and negative) aimed at the increase of practical experienceand related to a certain period in the personal diary.

Collection

Inner contradiction andproblems

Evidencing problems and contradictions or adopted good practicesand connecting a representative object (token) to the event,integrating the material in the personal folder.




The third macro-phase is defined Selection with the purpose of focusing the attention on specific eventsrelated to the professional experience which are significant in the sense of acquiring skills. In particular,it is meant to select some (for instance three) events among the ones reported in the personal diary wherethe trainee has carried out some activities relevant to his professional role. The next step (Analysis)requires the analysis of the selected material starting from the competency standards which were definedin the initial phase.

Selection Selecting three particularly significant events from the list basedon personal experiences and the priorities of the role.

Selection

Analysis Identifying and reporting the facts (evidences) for each of theseevents that practically describe what happened.

The macro-phase called debriefing is the moment where with the support of mediation and analysis toolsa critical reflection on the performance is made. That moment represents the starting point of theeffective learning process. The reflection on the performance, the definition of the analysis methods andthe determination of the development goals represent the kick-off of the process that changes thecompetencies and plans the next phases. In this phase the materials are linked in a network in order todescribe the change, a new knowledge, the attention towards the constituent elements of a task or workactivity (Rossi e al. 2012).

Critical reflection

Analyzing activities with the support of mediation tools, such asconcept maps, models of organizational analysis, flow charts andidentifying the core problem of the critical issue.

Searching for solutions, formulating the work activities to achieveand identifying areas to improve related to skills development.

Debriefing

Subsequently the critical reflection aims to identify areas of improvement, the problematic issues, theinvolved professional issues, the priorities and emergencies, converging towards a shared definition ofthe core problem. Through problem solving techniques, that help to perceive the discomfort and thesymptoms, the real problem can be focused and the participant is invited to reflect upon the criticalsituations and the committed mistakes. Once identified the problem, the required working practices andthe skills to achieve must be investigated. According to the method of scaffolding, the tutor (as well asthe participant and his peer) supports the reflection with appropriate stimulus that help the understandingfrom another point of view, with more distance and a different knowledge not known to the participantup until that moment.

The process continues with the definition of the goal that focuses on the work activities to achieve andto become good practices in the workplace. At that point it is necessary to assess the required skills forthe application of the new practices by identifying the sources, the offer and the activities that allow theevolution of knowledge.




The phase at the end of the process starts off the cyclical process of project work. This tool allows theplanning of learning activities, starting from the working activities to achieve and the skills that areconsidered necessary. The articulation of project work highlights the correlation between the detectedproblem and new expected working activities, also in terms of monitoring systems.

Project work

Defining the project’s objective and goals in terms of learning andplanning of the project work.

Assessing the resources in terms of skills, sources, social network.

Planning the schedule and the rate of efficiency.

Planning

The a.m. phases are the result of the interlacing of the methods of reflective practice, of the learningfrom and through experience and of the planning of changes in the working context. In CPD these factorsare well documented with the help of many tools that support the learning process.

The monitoring of the learning projects becomes an opportunity to verify the steps taken during theexecution of the project, to modify the schedule in case of insuperable problems and to set new goals inthe continuing professional development.

5. CONCLUSIONS. AN APPLICATION AT UNIVERSITY OF MOLISE

In the project financed both by the Italian ministry of labour as by the Molise Region, called “PianoIntegrato Giovani Molise (Molise Integrated Plan for young people) - approved by the regional councilwith number 473 on 27th June 2011 - dedicated to young people of Molise and administrated by theUniversity of Molise, the scientific group made the decision to use the Continuing ProfessionalDevelopment (CPD) model for some applications having the main aim of shaping the young graduatesin the direction of a continuous and self-managed learning approach, according the rule of Life LongLearning and in observance of the Human Capital Theory.

The CPD model was tested applying a suitable instrument for those subjects who have been chosen tooperate with within the bounds of the different action lines and was tested also on various types ofdifferent young graduates groups. This model has been attached to the present work.

The first appliance has been recently carried out within the action area called “Placement” of integratedplan for Molise young people. A group of 39 people, young graduates belonging to different areas(humanistic, social, economic, scientific area) in a various age range (between 20 and 29 years old) hasbeen inserted in the CPD method through a 6 months long apprenticeship at business company in theMolise Region.

Aim of this training period was the co-operation with the already existing staff of the company in orderto realize a project work for the process innovation of the company or for the product innovation. Duringthe apprenticeship the young graduates have done an individual path and a small group work of 20 hours,under the guidance of experienced training supervisor and a coach with interviews and meetings.

A second appliance of the CPD model is currently being carried out in the AREA CREATING ANENTERPRISE of the integrated plan for Molise young people. In the action line number 4 we have aneducating path towards the realization of the business idea. This project has recruited 37 young graduates




of Molise region, initiated to self-company of self-employment. The educating path provides a specifictransversal coaching action realized with the support of CPD model.

A third appliance of the CPD model is still provided within the Area Placement in the action line ofproject number 2, which deals with learning from competences belonging to employment insertion. Thisline (line number 2 of the project) provides a Master of high apprenticeship called “Innovation, businessmanagement and personnel administration” (Innovazione, Management aziendale e gestione delpersonale”) dedicated to 20 graduates taken on staff with a high apprenticeship contract. The juniorclerks, during the training period to 36 months made at school and on-the job, will carry out aprofessional Assessment session with the help of CPD model.

The three trial actions for this model have been carried out with the purpose of demonstrating how itcan be useful and valid to use methods which typically belong to enterprise environment in other formaltraining bounds such as the university and in respect of particular subjects like young graduates intransition from school to work.

This project is expected to promote in an amount of 100 young graduates of Molise the culture of acontinuous updating of their own professional ability.

REFERENCES

Antonietti, A. (2005), Progettare il portfolio delle competenze, Carocci Faber, Roma.

Billett, S. (2004), “Workplace participatory practices. Conceptualising workplaces as learningenvironments”, in The Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 16, n. 6, pp. 312-324.

Bonometti, S. (2013), Lavorando s’impara. Riflessioni didattiche sulla formazione esperienziale,Pensa Multimedia, Lecce-Brescia.

Cross, V., Liles, C., Conduit, J., Price, J. (2004), “Linking reflective practice to evidence ofcompetence: a workshop for allied health professionals”, in Reflective Practice, Vol. 5, n. 1, pp. 3-31.

Ellinger, A.D., Cseh M. (2007), “Contextual factors influencing the facilitation of others’ learningthrough everyday work experiences”, in The Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 19, pp. 435-452.

Eraut, M. (2000), “Non-formal learning, implicit learning and tacit knowledge in professional work”,in British Journal of Educational Psychology, n.70, pp. 113–136.

Eraut M. (2007), Learning from other people at work, in F. Coffield, Learning at work, in OxfordReview of Education, vol. 33, n. 4, pp. 403-422.

Fuller, A., Unwin L. (2004), “Young people as teachers and learners in the work place: challengingthe novice-expert dichotomy”, in International Journal of Training and Development, n. 8:1, p. 32-42.

Lammintakanen, J., Kivinen, T. (2012) “Continuing professional development in nursing: does agematter?”, in Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 24/1.

Peck, C., McCall, M., McLaren, B., Roten, T. (2000), “Continuing medical education and continuingprofessional development: international comparisons”, in British Medical Journal, vol. 320, pp. 432-435.

Peel, D. (2005), “Dual Professionalism: facing the challenger of continuing professional developmentin the workplace?”, in Reflective Practice, Vol. 6, No.1, p. 123-140.




Pellerey, M. (2000), “Il portafoglio formativo progressivo come nuovo strumento di valutazione dellecompetenze”, in Orientamenti Pedagogici, n.47, pp. 853-857.

Rossi, P.G. (2005), Progettare e realizzare il portfolio, Carocci, Roma.

Rossi, P.G., Giannandrea, L. (2006), Che cos’è l’e-portfolio, Carocci, Roma.

Rossi, P.G., Giannandrea L., Magnoler P. (2012), “Portfolio e riflessione”, in Educational Science andSociety, n. 2, pp. 192-195.

Sobiechowska, P., Maisch M. (2007), “Work-based learning and continuing professionaldevelopment”, in Education and training, Vol. 49 No. 3, pp. 182-192.

Varisco, B. M. (2004), Portfolio. Valutare gli apprendimenti e le competenze, Carocci, Roma.




Attached sheet:

Piano Integrato Giovani Molise

Project Work

PROJECT WORKtitle of the Project

student's name

period of the project

Stage of project work

Overall Goal of project work

Overall Goal is …

Context Analisys and difficulties organizational




Specific analysis

PERCEIVEDDISCOMFORT

WHO WHAT WHERE WHE WHY Realproblem

Matrice SWOT

Withinthecompany

Strenghts

·

Weaknesses

·

Outsidethecompany

Opportunities

·

Threats

·

Goal to be achieved

Real Problem Goal Sub-goal Priority




Planning of the intervention)

Flow-chart of process

Expected outcome

Plan of Competenties

Competenties

Levels

Partial Basic Superior Excellent

1

2

3




Learning Plan

Goal of Learning Resources and strategies forlearning

Evidence of achievement ofgoal




TOWARDS A MODEL OF INTEGRATION OF IMMIGRANTS IN MOLISE

Luca Refrigeri and Gianna Pasquale

Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, University of Molise

Via De Sanctis, 86100, Campobasso – Italy

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the issue of the integration of foreigners in Italy and in particular in Molise.Specifically, the purpose is to reflect on the inclusion of immigrants into the social regional context withparticular attention to the workplace and school. The choice to focus the research on the Molise stemsfrom the fact that in this region the immigration represents a new factor, exiguous in numbers comparedto the rest of Italy, although it appears to be growing especially as regards to adults of working age. Webelieve, therefore, that a study on immigration in our region - in which it can be highlighted the uniqueaspects that distinguish the presence of foreigners on the territory of Molise - may, in fact, benefit theconstruction of social and educational policies, on the ongoing social transformations, until the creationof a specific model of integration for Molise.

Key words: immigrants, integration, school, workplace, Molise social context

1. INTRODUCTIONGlobalization is undoubtedly one of the most significant and distinctive feature of the contemporaryworld. More specifically, the economic, political and social interdependence, on the one hand, and thesubstantial migratory movements, on the other hand, are the salient aspects of the profoundtransformations that are occurring in present day societies, characterized more and more by thecoexistence of multiethnic and multicultural diversities (Silva 2008; Pinto Minerva 2004; Bauman2000).

Within this international scenario, in Italy we see a radical change in migratory dynamics: in fact, ourCountry, that in the second half of the Nineteenth Century and for about a Century was one of the majorCountries of emigration, at the beginning of the Seventies of the Twentieth Century, has become animportant destination of migration flows coming from developing Countries and from Eastern Europe(Pugliese, 2008, p. 209).

Therefore, in the attempt to study some of the main changes in today's society, through an examinationof the immigration phenomenon in Italy and, more precisely, in Molise, it seems useful to start this workgiving some brief reference to a few episodes of mobilization that occurred in the past in our own region(Pugliese 2008, pp.. 209-211), in order to better understand the dynamics of the local migration history70,but also to reflect on the experience of migrating that has always characterized the history of nationsand people (Giusti, 2004, pp. 5-106) and that affects the lives of men71.

70 In this regard it is worth mentioning the fourth issue of Glocale. Rivista molisana di storia e scienze sociali, thatis, in fact, entirely dedicated to the theme of migrations of Molise (Argilli et al., 2011).71 See also: Wallnofer (2000).




The Molise region can be considered a territory with a long history of migration (Muscarà, 2009, pp.14-15). In fact, during the Great Italian Emigration – that began in the Seventies of the NineteenthCentury and lasted until the first half of the Twentieth Century - and even in the period after the SecondWorld War, when restarting the national mobility, Molise was one of the first regions of the South ofItaly in which this phenomenon has reached the highest levels72.

On this side, however, it is important to note that the history of Molise has been characterized not onlyby the significant number of Molisans who decided to emigrate to other Countries, but also by theoccurrence of the reverse phenomenon, namely, by the arrival of people flows: in particular, towardsthe middle of the Fifteenth Century, groups of Rom, Croats and Albanians, pressed by the invasions ofthe Ottoman Turks, were forced to cross the Adriatic Sea and they found concrete possibilities ofsettlement in the territories of Molise that had unpopulated because of the terrible earthquake of 1456and the plague of 149573. Therefore, we should just go back to these stories of immigration to explainthe current presence of certain Rom communities and Croatian and Albanian (arbëreshë) linguisticminorities in the area of the coast, called also ‘Lower Molise’74.

It is not possible to further deepen the past migratory experiences of Molise, but what has just beenmentioned hitherto is the socio-historical context that should be considered to focus on the today'smigration phenomenon in the region, because although this falls in the more general national framework,nevertheless it fits into a specific territory in which, as we shall see, it is also being developed with itsown peculiarities.

These observations and these historical references are, therefore, the necessary premises that will allowa better understanding of the phenomenon of immigration that is going to be presented: starting fromthe national data, it will be outlined, albeit in broad terms, the main socio-demographic characteristicsof foreign residents in Molise and, subsequently, it will be investigated their inclusion in the workplaceand at school. These two factors represent crucial aspects from which to begin building a model of socialintegration of immigrants in the Molise region on which it is now inevitable to reflect. Such anintegrative model that, while taking into consider the dynamics of national and general trends, shouldbe especially suited to the local specificities that, in some way, have been brought to light, with thiswork, although preliminary. In the following pages, therefore, will be described the first results of theresearch that has been conducted within the project co-financed by the Region of Molise called"Politiche del Lavoro per l’Integrazione degli stranieri in Molise” (Work Policies for Integration ofForeigners in Molise). This project aimed to identify a possible model of regional integration offoreigners residing in the region.

72 For the quantitative data and for more information on the Great Emigration in Molise, see Massullo (2000a) andLombardi (2006), while regarding the second phase of emigration after the Second World War see also Pugliese(2008) and Masullo (2000b).73 In this respect, should be mentioned the recent studies conducted by Novi Chavarria (2007) and Sarno (2009,pp. 23-51).74 More precisely, the Croatian-speaking minorities are now in the municipalities of Acquaviva CollecroceMontemitro and San Felice del Molise, the Albanians ones are mostly found in Campomarino, Montecilfone,Portocannone and Ururi, that is to say, all in the coastal area, while the Rom communities have now allocatedmainly in Campobasso, Isernia, Santa Croce di Magliano and also in Termoli and Venafro. In this regard, see thestudies cited in the previous note.




2. SOME SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF FOREIGN POPULATION INITALY AND MOLISEAccording to estimates made by ISTAT75 (2012a, p. 8), the foreigners residing in Italy on 1st January2012 were 4 million and 859 thousand, to which the ISMU Foundation adds 326 thousand irregularimmigrants and other 245 thousand foreigners in possession of a valid residence permit but not enrolled(or not yet) to any registry office, for a total of 5 million and 430 thousand foreigners in our Peninsula(Blangiardo, 2013, pp. 38-39).

By restricting the scope of investigation to foreign residents, it should be noted that they represent 8,0%of the whole population residing in Italy (ISTAT 2012a, p. 8). Moreover, the number of foreigners hasincreased by 289 thousand units compared to 1st January 2011; it is a growth that, however, issignificantly lower than that of the previous year (+335 thousand of units)76. It seems, therefore, thatthere has been a slowdown in the upward trend of the foreign population in our Country – due, mostlikely, to the national economic crisis (Cesareo, 2013, p. 7) –. In any case, the growth trend in recentdecades has reached very high levels close to those of other European Countries which have had a mostancient and important colonial history (Albani, 2012 p. 89).

ISTAT (2012a, p. 8) estimated also the distribution of the Italian and foreign resident population in theregions of Italy, at the beginning of 2012; in the light of this information (given in the following Table1), we can then consider that in Molise foreign residents were about 10 thousand, namely, 3,1% of totalresidents. Compared to 1st January 2011, when they counted less than 9 thousand units (to be exact,8.929) 77, we can found an increase of about 1 thousand that, unlike the national trend, is higher than theprevious year (of +818 units). Consequently, although the foreign presence in the region is still low(only 0,2% of the distribution of foreign citizens in Italy), it records, without a doubt, a constant growth.

Regarding to what has been argued, it should be noted that all the data referring at 1st January 2012 areonly estimates, so they have a scientific value, but purely probabilistic. These numbers have beeninferred from the data concerning the movement of the resident population (births, deaths and transfersof residence) that have been collected and sent by the Italian municipalities to ISTAT only for the first7 months of the year, so for the remaining five months the Institute of Statistics has made predictionsthat will subsequently be updated (ISTAT 2012a, p. 11). At the moment there aren’t other more reliable

75The Italian National Institute of Statistics, ISTAT, is the public research organization that deals with drawing upofficial statistics.76 For the data relating to 1st January 2011, see: ISTAT (2011, p. 1).77 See ISTAT (2011, p. 3).




sources78 that provide a complete picture of the foreign presence (both EU and non-EU79), for this reasonit is more useful, for the purposes of this study, to analyze certain data relating to 1st January 2011, inorder to have even more detailed and interesting information about the presence of foreigners in Molise.

In this direction, then, according to ISTAT80 it can be stated that, at the beginning of 2011, Molise wasthe penultimate Italian region (before only to the Valle d'Aosta), for the number of foreigners regularlyresiding: they were in fact 8.929, corresponding to 2,8% of the total population in our region. This is anincidence below the average of 7,5% recorded in Italy, yet the variance from last year in Molise

78 At this regard, it must be added that 2011 was a special year from statistical point of view because it was madethe 15th Census of the population in Italy, so it was collected even numbers, still provisional, of the foreignpresence in our Country. The ISTAT publication (2012c) of the 19 December 2012 reveals that foreign residentswould amount to 4 million and 29 thousand of people (to be exact, 4.029.145): this datum differs significantlyfrom that estimated by ISTAT and a little above mentioned (which is around 4 million and 859 thousand). Aboutthe possible reasons for this discrepancy see the contribution edited by the Idos /Redazione of ImmigrationStatistical Dossier Caritas and Migrants (2012, p. 97-98) in which there are also references to the various pressreleases issued by ISTAT.79 It should be pointed out that reliable data on the non-EU citizens were officially provided by ISTAT (2012b),while those for the EU citizens are only estimated in Blangiardo (2013, p. 41-42) to which reference should beentirely made for more information.80 The data, summarized in Table 2, were extracted from the official website of ISTAT: <www.demo.istat.it>(accessed May 2013) and have also been developed by consulting the website at this link:<http://www.tuttitalia.it/statistiche/cittadini-stranieri-2011/> (access, May 2013).

Total Italians Foreigns Total Italians Foreigns

Piemonte 4.474 4.050 424 9,5 7,4 7,2 8,7Valle D'Aosta 129 120 9 7,2 0,2 0,2 0,2

Lombardia 9.990 8.861 1.129 11,3 16,4 15,8 23,2Trentino Alto Adige 1.046 951 96 9,2 1,7 1,7 2,0

Veneto 4.965 4.435 530 10,7 8,2 7,9 10,9Friuli Venezia Giulia 1.238 1.127 110 8,9 2,0 2,0 2,3

Liguria 1.616 1.482 134 8,3 2,7 2,6 2,7Emilia Romagna 4.461 3.931 530 11,9 7,3 7,0 10,9

Toscana 3.766 3.379 386 10,3 6,2 6,0 8,0Umbria 911 805 106 11,6 1,5 1,4 2,2Marche 1.571 1.418 153 9,8 2,6 2,5 3,2

Lazio 5.774 5.190 584 10,1 9,5 9,3 12,0Abruzzo 1.347 1.260 87 6,4 2,2 2,3 1,8

Molise 320 310 10 3,1 0,5 0,6 0,2Campania 5.832 5.657 176 3,0 9,6 10,1 3,6

Puglia 4.090 3.987 103 2,5 6,7 7,1 2,1Basilicata 586 570 16 2,8 1,0 1,0 0,3

Calabria 2.010 1.928 82 4,1 3,3 3,4 1,7Sicilia 5.049 4.896 153 3,0 8,3 8,7 3,2

Sardegna 1.676 1.635 41 2,5 2,8 2,9 0,9ITALY 60.851 55.991 4.859 8,0 100,0 100,0 100,0

Residents (thousands) % foreignersin the totalpopulation

Distribution on the territory (% )

Table 1: Italian and foreign resident population by region on 1st January 2012 (estimates) - based on Istat data

Regions




(amounted to 10,1%) appears to be undoubtedly higher than the same change in Italy (measured to7,9%). This would seem to corroborate the idea, already mentioned above, that the foreign presence inMolise is constantly growing, so it is also probable that over the years could reach the levels recordedin the rest of Italy.

Analyzing, more in detail, the information provided by ISTAT regarding foreign residents in the twoprovinces of Molise (see the following Table 3), it can be reported that, on 1st January 2011, the provinceof Campobasso recorded the highest number of immigrants (the foreign residents were 6.511, comparedto 2.418 in the province of Isernia). However, if you take into consideration the percentage change offoreigners in the two provinces, over the previous year, it is interesting to note that it is rather the Iserniaprovince that recording the highest increase (which was of 12,7%, compared to 9,2% registered in theother province of Molise).

Males Females Total %

1. Lombardia 537.659 526.788 1.064.447 23,3% 10,7% 8,4%

2. Lazio 254.890 287.798 542.688 11,9% 9,5% 9,0%

3. Veneto 251.114 253.563 504.677 11,0% 10,2% 5,0%

4. Emilia-Romagna 242.728 257.869 500.597 11,0% 11,3% 8,2%

5. Piemonte 190.667 208.243 398.910 8,7% 9,0% 5,7%

6. Toscana 172.028 192.124 364.152 8,0% 9,7% 7,5%

7. Campania 68.540 95.728 164.268 3,6% 2,8% 11,7%

8. Marche 69.402 76.966 146.368 3,2% 9,4% 5,3%

9. Sicilia 68.147 73.757 141.904 3,1% 2,8% 11,5%

10. Liguria 58.592 66.728 125.320 2,7% 7,8% 9,6%

11. Friuli-Venezia Giulia 52.169 53.117 105.286 2,3% 8,5% 4,4%

12. Umbria 45.395 54.454 99.849 2,2% 11,0% 7,1%

13. Puglia 44.298 51.411 95.709 2,1% 2,3% 13,5%

14. Trentino-Alto Adige 43.078 47.243 90.321 2,0% 8,7% 6,0%

15. Abruzzo 37.554 43.433 80.987 1,8% 6,0% 7,0%

16. Calabria 33.790 40.812 74.602 1,6% 3,7% 13,3%

17. Sardegna 16.889 20.964 37.853 0,8% 2,3% 13,7%

18. Basilicata 6.476 8.262 14.738 0,3% 2,5% 13,4%

19. Molise 3.859 5.070 8.929 0,2% 2,8% 10,1%

20. Valle d'Aosta 3.936 4.776 8.712 0,2% 6,8% 6,2%

ITALY 2.201.211 2.369.106 4.570.317 100,0% 7,5% 7,9%

Regions

%foreignersin the totalpopulation

Resident foreigners% change

over theprevious

year

Table 2: Foreign resident population by region on 1st January 2011(ranking for number of foreigners) - based on Istat data

Males Females Total %Province of Campobasso 2.786 3.725 6.511 72,9% 2,8% 9,2%

Province of Isernia 1.073 1.345 2.418 27,1% 2,7% 12,7%

Molise 3.859 5.070 8.929 100,0% 2,8% 10,1%

Table 3: Foreign resident population in the Molise region on 1st January 2011 - basedon Istat data

Resident foreigners % foreignersin the totalpopulation

% changeover the

previous year




Moreover, it has been possible to deepen also the study of the foreign presence in the municipalities ofthe region at the beginning of 2011, therefore, it have been identified the three municipalities of the tworespective provinces of Molise with the greatest number of immigrants81. The data in Table below allowto observe that in the province of Isernia, just the Chief town was in first place with 603 foreigners,instead in the province of Campobasso, the town of Termoli reached the highest number of foreigners,compared to Chief town. For this reason, hence, Termoli stands as the first town in the region with 1.097foreign citizens, followed by Campobasso, with 995 foreigners and Isernia. This leads to speculate thatmigratory movements are related to the higher demand for job and manpower that occurs in the area ofthe coast. About the dynamics of the labor market in Molise will return shortly, in this context it is worthto emphasize that the presence of foreigners is focusing right in the so-called 'Lower Molise' (see Figure1), where Croatian and Albanian minorities persist, so this phenomenon is triggering in the area thatalready contains a socio-cultural pluralism.

It seems appropriate, at this point, to consider some of the characteristics of the foreign populationresiding in the region at 1st January 2011, in order to outline some of the most significant aspects of thisnew social component.

The first element to highlight is the presence of foreign women in the region. As can be seen from Table3 shown above, these women are more numerous than males in both provinces of Molise: the foreignfemales residing in the province of Campobasso were 3.725 compared to 2.786 foreign males, while inthe other province the women were 1.345 and men were 1.073. In total, then, the number of immigrantwomen in Molise, in early 2011, amounted to 5.070 units, in terms of percentage composition, theforeign females counted for 56.8% of the foreign population resident. This regional datum not onlyconforms to the national trend – which shows an incidence of foreign female population equivalent to51,8% - but even exceeds by 5 percentage points82.

81 The numbers (upgraded to 1st January 2011) of foreigners living in each municipality of Molise, divided in thetwo provinces, are available on the sites: <www.demo.istat.it>; <http://www.tuttitalia.it/statistiche/cittadini-stranieri -2011/> (accessed May 2013).

82 The percentages were calculated from national data found in ISTAT (2011, p. 1) and can also be found on thewebsite: <www.demo.istat.it>, accessed May 2013.

Males Females TotalTermoli 421 676 1.097 3,3%

Campobasso 384 611 995 2,0%Montenero di Bisaccia 230 226 456 6,7%

Isernia 255 348 603 2,7%Venafro 183 178 361 3,1%Pesche 65 66 131 8,2%

Prov. ofIS

% foreignersin the totalpopulation

Minicipalities

Prov. ofCB

Resident foreigners

Table 4: Foreign resident population in the three municipalities with thehighest number of immigrants in the province of Campobasso and

Isernia on 1st January 2011 - based on Istat data




Fig. 1: Municipalities with the highest number offoreigners residents in the provinces of Molise on 1st

January 2011 - based on ISTAT data

Another aspect to point out is the distribution of resident foreign citizens in relation to different agegroups: Table 583 clearly indicates that in the province of Campobasso as well as in that of Isernia, themost numerous group of foreigners is made up of people aged between 30 and 44 years, in fact, on 1st

January 2011, they came to count 3.147 units throughout the region. In other words they represent the34,3% of total immigrants residing in Molise. This is a percentage that is slightly lower than the sameregistered in Italy (35.7%), nevertheless it is in line with the national trend, according to whichforeigners are composed mainly of adults in the age of the full working realization84.

83 The numbers in the Table were taken from the ISTAT website (www.demo.istat.it) and, therefore, properlygrouped together.84 The percentage compositions were disclosed in Colaiacomo (2011a, p. 482) that – it should be noted – are relatedto 31.12.2010.

Males Females Total Males Females Total Males Females Total Males Females Total Males Females Total Males Females Total

529 526 1.055 102 100 202 708 859 1.567 968 1.375 2.343 423 766 1.189 56 99 155180 164 344 42 31 73 323 272 595 329 475 804 174 360 534 25 43 68709 690 1.399 144 131 275 1.031 1.131 2.162 1.297 1.850 3.147 597 1.126 1.723 81 142 223

Province of CampobassoProvince of Isernia

Molise

Table 5: Foreign resident population by age and sex in the Molise region on 1st January 2011 - based on Istat dataage groups

0-14 15-17 18-29 30-44 45-64 65-oltre




As regards, moreover, the foreign communities residing in the provinces of Molise, Romanian citizensare in the first place, as well as in the rest of Italy (ISTAT, 2011, p. 9). For accuracy, at 1st January 2011,the Romanians in Molise were 3.112, that was the 34.9% of total foreign population. Over half of theseRomanian (namely 1.860 units) were female (see Table 6).

By extending the analysis to the other most numerous communities in our region - in this regard seeFigure 2 which shows the numbers of the top 20 foreign communities in Molise -, it should be notedthat the Moroccans have been positioned in second place and the Albanians at third, with a reversal ofthe second and third place compared to the national ranking85.

Fig. 2: The 20 most numerous foreign communities in the Molise region on 1st January 2011 - based onISTAT and Caritas/Migrantes data

85 In this respect, see ISTAT (2011, p. 3:09) and website: <http://www.tuttitalia.it/statistiche/cittadini-stranieri-2011/> (accessed May 2013). For regional data, see also Colaiacomo (2011b, p. 463).

First foreigncommunity

Males Females Total% in the total

foreignpopulation

Province of Campobasso Romania 945 1.357 2.302 35,4%Province of Isernia Romania 307 503 810 33,5%Molise Romania 1.252 1.860 3.112 34,9%

Table 6 : First largest foreign community residing in the Molise region on 1stJanuary 2011 - based on Istat and Caritas/Migrantes data

0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500

RomaniaMoroccoAlbaniaPoland

UkraineIndia

ChinaTunisia

MacedoniaBulgariaMoldova

ArgentinaBrazilRussia

GermanyFrance

Dominican RepublicLithuania

KosovoUnited States of America

3,1121,121766

638474

345271

1401391321281019984807573686565




The data discussed so far have allowed to trace some salient elements of the foreign population in Moliseand, more in general, in Italy; out below will be examine two particular areas of investigation – that arethe workplace and school – in order to attempt to understand, in some way, the dynamics of the inclusionof foreigners in the Molise social context.

3. THE INCLUSION OF FOREIGNERS IN THE MOLISE WORK CONTEXT

In recent years, the national and international economic crisis has had a very strong impact on the labormarket and has negatively affected on the employment opportunities especially for foreigners (Albissini,Pintaldi, 2011, pp. 231-239).

To confirm this, it may be examined the data released by INAIL and referring to 31st December 201186.According to the survey of this National Institute, the foreign-born workers87 who have worked for atleast one day in Molise, were 10.485 (12% of total workforce), of which 43,3% were women. Withregard to foreigners who have had one or more assumptions, in the same 2011, we know that theyamounted to 5.385 units, so they represent the 18,7% of all recruitments in Molise. Moreover, 24,4% ofthe workers, who were hired in Molise for the first time in 2011, consists of foreign-born workers(corresponding to 1.314 people). Essentially "after the fall recorded in 2010, compared to the previousyear" (Minicucci, Pizzi, 2012, p. 410)88, the values of employment began to grow again in 2011 – seethe following Table that shows all the numerical variations between 2010 and 2011 –. On the other hand,however, these positive results are counterbalanced by the number of terminations (ie the number ofemployees who have had at least a cessation of work during the reference year) because the balancebetween new hires and terminations of employment was recorded with a negative sign: the peopleexpelled from the labor market exceeded the assumptions of 101 units. "This means that the crisis hasreduced the dynamism into employment and has also led to a prevalence of less stable recruitments"(Marinaro, Pittau, 2011, pp. 157).

With regard to the situation of foreign workers, the Caritas/Migrantes Dossier has also provided withthe prospect of employment, divided by areas of activities, which is valid until 31 December 2011 (seeFigure 3): in Molise, therefore, 46,6% of the foreign laborers were employed in the field of the Services,34,1% into the Industries and, finally, 16,1% in the area of Agriculture and Fisheries (Minicucci, Pizzi,2012, p. 410).

86 INAIL is the Workers Compensation Autohority that manages the protection system for all workers. The dataprovided by it and used in this context were properly processed in the Caritas/Migrantes Dossier of 2012; referenceshould be made in particular to the contribution of Di Sciullo (2012, p. 246-253).87 It should be pointed that with this terms INAIL also refers to Italians born abroad and then repatriated. "Fromthis point of view Molise is also an exceptional case, because it has a quota of returnees (children of manyemigrants of Molise in the world) very consistent" (Pizzi, 2009, p. 436, note 2). On this question, it will come backlater.88It should be specified that, throughout this paper, the translations of the quotes originally in Italian were madeby the authors, so to view the original citations, please refer to the texts and the pages that will be mentioned fromtime to time.




Fig. 3: Areas of employment of foreigners insured in theMolise region on 31st December 2011 - based onCaritas/Migrantes and Inail data

Right "on the relationship between the labor market and the integration of immigrants" in differentemployment areas, Renato Marianaro and Franco Pittau, in a recent research, have proposed thefollowing "reading lines":

- "a significant percentage of the agriculture activities: 16,1% of employees (national average8.5%), the productive sector in which, among other things, there is the greatest spread ofsubmerged, like in the building industry;

- a considerable percentage of the industry: 34,1% (national average 29,6%) for the decisiveincidence of building industry [...] that before the crisis was the main employment opportunityfor immigrants in both provinces;

- a prevailing impact of services, albeit reduced compared to the national average: 46,6% (versus57,0%) with a great importance for the tourism and hotel sector "(Marinaro, Pittau, 2011, p.157).

Foreigners %Females

%foreigners in the

total occup.stranieri

%foreigners in

the total empl.Foreigners

%foreigners in thetotal new empl.

8.981 43,0% 12,7% 4.267 19,4% 1.082 31,3% -177 12,0%

10.485 43,3% 12,0% 5.385 18,7% 1.314 24,4% -101 12,5%1.504 0,3% -0,7% 1.118 -0,7% 232 -6,9% 76 0,5%

31st December 2011variation 2010-2011

BALANCES(empl.-ceased)

% newempl.

over theoccup.

Table 7: Foreign-born workers insured by Inail for working conditions in the Molise region on 31st December 2010 and2011- based on Caritas/Migrantes and Inail data

31st December 2010

O CCUPIED NEW EMPLOYEDEMPLOYED




At the regional level, moreover, the two researchers have found that "the two zones in which there is thegreatest concentration of foreign workers are those of Campobasso, in the hinterland (especially in theurban area where there is the more relevant presence), and Termoli, on the coast "(Marinaro, Pittau,2011, p.157).

About the foreign manpower registered at the end of year 2011 in Molise, INAIL has disclosed otherinformation concerning the most common Countries of birth among workers born outside Italy. Thefollowing Table, drawn up in the light of these data89, allows to observe that the first community isrepresented by Romanians (counting 2.739 units, ie, 26,1% of the total number of foreign workers). Inthe second and third place are positioned, respectively, Switzerland (with 1.091 units) and Germany(with 1.059 units): these Countries, in the past, were traditional destinations of emigrants from Molise(Marinaro, Pittau, 2011, p.156) so it seems plausible that the workers now coming from these Countriesare mostly the children of Molisan people who return to work in the region. According to what has justbeen stated, and excluding, therefore, those employees who were born in Switzerland and Germany, itcan be added that the other more representative communities of foreign workers in Molise are Albanian,Moroccan, Bulgarian and Polish.

89 For more details, see Colaiacomo (2012, p. 455).

Countries Foreigners %Romania 2.739 26,1%Switzerland 1.091 10,4%Germany 1.059 10,1%Albania 545 5,2%Morocco 452 4,3%Bulgaria 376 3,6%Poland 364 3,5%United Kingdom 307 2,9%Canada 301 2,9%Venezuela 280 2,7%Ukraina 263 2,5%India 257 2,5%France 244 2,3%Argentina 195 1,9%Belgium 190 1,8%United States 146 1,4%Bangladesh 118 1,1%China 108 1,0%Serbia and Montenegro 100 1,0%Tunisia 100 1,0%other Countries 1.250 11,9%TOTAL 10.485 100,0%

Table 8: Employed foreign-born in the Moliseregion by Country of birth (year 2011) - based

on Caritas/Migrantes and Inail data




At this point of the investigation on the workforce of foreigners in Molise it can be appropriate toproceed by analyzing two aspects useful to delineate more clearly the framework of the localemployment.

The first one upon which to focus concerns the subordinate employment related to domesticcollaborations. In this case, the source consulted and that enables to know the situation of domesticworkers in Molise is the INPS Observatory on Domestic Workers90: from the research and by processingthe data it appears that, in 2011, the foreigners employed as domestic workers in the region were 1.349,namely, they were more than double the Italian employees with the same job (which were 694). Thevast majority (1.286 units) of these foreigners, however, was women (so they represent 95,3% of foreigndomestic workers). Moreover, these women were predominantly from some EU Countries – unlike themales who were quite originating from non-European Countries – (see Table 9).

It becomes clear, from this, how important is the contribution provided by foreigners working for Moliseregion. It could be agree, therefore, with the considerations advanced by Maria Paola Nanni just aboutthe work of family assistance that is being done by foreigners in Italy: the immigrants who work in thePeninsula, and thus also in Molise, have the precious "'function' of 'creators/providers' of welfare, theinformal/invisible/light welfare [...] that has filled, in a substantially spontaneous and derogated way,the deficiencies found in the system of national [and local] welfare and regarding the gradual looseningand/or restructuring of the family support networks "(Nanni, 2011, p. 261).

The second aspect to be explored, especially relevant to the analysis that that is being carried out,concerns the self employment of foreigners, or rather, the entrepreneurship of foreigners in Molise91. In2011, the immigrant business owners in region were 274, nearly half of which (ie 136 units) results tobe coming from Morocco, while, according to the following Table 10, the other recurring nationalitiesare basically the Romanian and Chinese.

Although these data are not quantitatively significant, they are still very important to consider the spiritof enterprise of foreigners: "the entrepreneurial commitment [by the immigrants] is credited as a positivesign of integration, because it indicates their willingness to get into play through the use of professionalskills and economic resources in the land that welcomed them. This entrepreneurial dynamism - continueMarinaro and Pittau (2011, p. 158) – has been also lively in recent years affected by the crisis, however,

90 The database of Observatory on Domestic Workers is directly available on the INPS website from the web page:<http://www.inps.it/webidentity/banchedatistatistiche/menu/domestici/main.html> (accessed May 2013). INPS isthe insurance institution of the Italian workers.91 See, in this regard, Colaiacomo (2012, p. 455).

Males Females Total Males Females Total Males Females Total Males Females Total

12 460 472 36 812 848 8 524 532 28 288 3167 215 222 27 474 501 7 378 385 20 96 116

19 675 694 63 1.286 1.349 15 902 917 48 384 432

Table 9: Italian and foreign domestic workers (both EU and non-EU) in the Molise region, year 2011 - based onOsservatorio sui Lavori Domestici INPS data

ItaliansForeigns

Total EU foreigners non-EU foreigners

Province of CampobassoProvince of Isernia

Molise




while continuing to be a positive sign, in contrast to what happens for the business activities of theItalians, it is recorded a certain slowdown” in Molise. It would, therefore, be desirable that the foreignentrepreneurship is encouraged because it certainly contributes to the economic and productivedevelopment of the region.

It is not possible here to continue further to discuss on the dynamics of the foreigners integration in thelocal labor market, the two aspects dealt with above may be emblematic to understand how reallynecessary is the immigrants contribution to Molise society: foreigners, in fact, not only compensate forthe deficiencies of the welfare, doing "low social recognition" jobs that Italians do not want to do – andthat it will ever more need in view of the aging of the population in Italy and in Molise – , but they alsorepresent a new productive resource on which it is worth pointing also and perhaps especially in timesof crisis (Ambrosini, 2012, pp. 223-224).

4. THE PRESENCE OF FOREIGN STUDENTS IN SCHOOLS OF MOLISE REGIONThe Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR), provides annual data on foreignstudents attending schools in the Peninsula and in the last available report, concerning the school year2011/2012 (MIUR, 2012 ), it is expressly confirmed "the considerable and growing presence of non-

Nationality Foreigners %Morocco 136 49,6%Romania 44 16,1%China 35 12,8%Ukraine 7 2,6%Albania 6 2,2%Poland 6 2,2%India 4 1,5%Venezuela 4 1,5%Russia 3 1,1%Pakistan 3 1,1%Bulgaria 2 0,7%Lithuania 2 0,7%Argenitina 2 0,7%Dominican Republic 2 0,7%Tunisia 2 0,7%Bangladesh 1 0,4%Cuba 1 0,4%Ivory Coast 1 0,4%Czech Rep. 1 0,4%Ex-Yugoslavia 1 0,4%other Countries 11 4,0%TOTAL 274 100,0%

Table 10: Foreign enterprise owners in theregion Molise (year 2011) - based on

Caritas/Migrantes and Unioncamere/Cna data




Italian alumni" in the schools. It is a presence that, according to the Ministry of Education or MIUR(2012, p. 3) "is configured as a structural phenomenon" of the Country.

Even in the Molise region, as elsewhere in Italy, it can be see a continuous increase in the foreigncomponent among the total school population: examining, in fact, the percentage incidence of foreignstudents on all pupils who attended the schools of Molise, during the last decade, it may be noted thatin the region, this percentage reached only 0,4% in the school year 2001/2002, while, after 10 years, ithas been recorded 3,6% (see Figure 4 below )92.

Fig. 4: Trend of foreign students in schools in the Molise region, periodschool years 2001/02-2011/2012 (percentages) - based on MIUR data

The incidence of 3,6%, registered in the region, is far from the analogous incidence observed in the restof Italy – that in the same school year was 8,4% (MIUR, 2012, p. 8) – . Therefore, this comparison leadsto argue that in Molise the presence of foreign students is still low. However, additional data encouragealso to claim that it is a phenomenon expected to grow fast even in the region, and it will probably reachthe average levels recorded in Italy. In support of this, it is enough to consider that, during the schoolyear 2011/2012, the foreign students who have attended schools in Molise were 1.634 and they increasedby 21,7% over the previous school year: this percentage is well above the national average (6,4%)93.Such an increase that has been recorded especially in the schools of the province of Campobasso, where

92 The data of the incidence of foreign students in the school of Molise, until the school year 2007/2008, can befound in the Ministry of Education or MIUR (2009a, p. 31), while for similar incidences related to the subsequentschool years, see: MIUR (2009b, p . 24) for the school year 2008/2009, MIUR (2010, p. 28) for the school year2009/2010, MIUR (2011, p. 30) for the school year 2010/2011, and MIUR (2012 , p. 28) for the school year2011/2012.93 About national data mentioned, see MIUR (2012, p. 8), while the regional percentage was calculated from dataavailable in MIUR (2012, p. 28) and MIUR (2011, p. 30).




it has reached the quota of 26.2% – in this province, in fact, there have been 79,3% of total foreignstudents present in Molise –94.

With regard to the distribution of students with non-Italian citizenship in the different school orders, thefollowing Table shows that, during the school year 2011/2012, in Molise, the Primary school was theone with the highest number of foreign students (548 units), and also the one with the highest percentageincidence on all alumni (4,2%), followed by the High school, with 446 foreign students and with anincidence of 3,6%, and then the Middle school, where the foreign students were 359 and their incidencewas 4,0%; only in the last place, we can find the Nursery school, attended by 281 pupils who haveregistered an incidence of 3,7% (MIUR, 2012, p. 28).

The Ministry of Education has also published the data on the continents of foreigners who have beenenrolled in schools of Molise in the same 2011/2012 (MIUR, 2012, p. 32): observing the Table 13 it’sclear that more than half of foreign students (67,3%, ie 1.100 units) come from Europe, the majority ofwhich (741 units, ie 67,4% of Europeans and 45,3% of the whole foreign school population) possessesthe citizenship of one of the Countries Member of the European Union. Much lower are, instead, thenumbers of pupils coming from Africa (279 units), America (130 units) and Asia (103 units).

94 In relation to the regional data, see the MIUR reports cited in the previous note.

Province of Campobasso 230 429 266 370 1.295 4,1 4,4 4,0 3,2 3,8Province of Isernia 51 119 93 76 339 2,5 3,7 4,2 2,0 3,0

Molise 281 548 359 446 1.634 3,7 4,2 4,0 2,9 3,6

Primary Secondary High Total

Table 12: Foreign students in the Molise region by school level, school year 2011/2012 - based on MIUR dataamounts per 100 students

Nursery Primary Secondary High Total Nursery

amount %per 100students amount %

per 100students

Province of Campobasso 1.026 76,4% 3,0 1.295 79,3% 3,8 26,2%Province of Isernia 317 23,6% 2,7 339 20,7% 3,0 7,0%

Molise 1.343 100,0% 2,9 1.634 100,0% 3,6 21,7%

Table 11 - Foreign students in the Molise region, school years 2010/2011 and 2011/12 - based onMIUR and Ismu Foundation data

% changeover the

2010/2011

school year 2010/2011 school year 2011/2012




Moreover, regarding the Countries of foreign students, it can be also add that the most numerousnationalities are, firstly, Rumanians (they represent, to be exact, 34,0% of the total), followed byMoroccans (with the 14,5%) and Albanians (with 11,0%)95.

These are, then, the main information concerning the presence of foreign students in the local schoolcontext, it could be appropriate, for the rest of this paragraph, to list, briefly, more details at disposal inorder to try to delineate more precisely the characteristics of their inclusion in the local school system.

A first important aspect is represented by the students with foreign citizenship, but born in Italy. In theschool year 2011/2012, the students of the second generation attending schools in Molise were a totalof 289 (namely 17,7% of all foreign students) (MIUR, 2012, p. 34).

A second factor to be considered regards foreign students who have entered for the first time in theschool system of Molise: according to the Ministry of Education (2012, p. 24) in 2011/2012 they werejust 91 (ie 6,7% of the total of foreign students enrolled in Molise). To be exact it should be noted thatthe number is partial because it does not holds data of the Nursery school.

Thus, if it could be compare the data of the second-generation foreign students with those of the newlyarrived foreign pupils, it’s necessary to subtract the quota of foreign alumni attending the Nursery schoolfrom the number of all foreign students of the second generation (so it must be subtract 138 from 289students), it follows that this part of foreigners born in Italy corresponds to 151 people: this number is,in any case, higher than that of newly arrived alumni registered in schools of Molise (ie 91 units).

It seems, therefore, that such result corroborates, in some way, what has been affirmed by the Ministryof Education regarding the characteristics with which it is happening the inclusion of foreigners all overItaly: "if in the early years, the increase of the presence of foreigners in the Italian schools was mainlydue to immigration, then the evolution of the phenomenon has led to an increase in second-generationforeigners compared to new arrivals in the Country "(MIUR, 2012, p. 3) 96.

In the light of these considerations, it becomes clear that the school will have to face not only problemsrelated to the initial reception of foreign students, because the students who are born and grow in Italy,almost certainly already speak Italian (MIUR, 2009a, p. 16) , but rather it will have to cope with thedifficulties linked to the integration between different cultures and will also guarantee to newgenerations of foreigners born in our Country a good vocational education that enables them to fit wellin the working world and, more generally, in the Italian society.

95 For this data and more information on the top 10 nationalities of students in Molise, see: MIUR (2012, p 18.)96 For further data in support of this thesis, and for other information regarding the evolution of the phenomenonin Molise, it may be useful to refer to Pasquale (2011, p. 296-302).

Europa of which: UE Africa America Asia Oceania ApolideNot

indicated TOTAL

Province of Campobasso 905 600 192 105 82 . . 11 1.295Province of Isernia 205 141 87 25 21 . . 1 339

Molise 1.100 741 279 130 103 . . 12 1.634

Table 13: Foreign students in the Molise region by continent of origin, school year 2011/2012 -based on MIUR data




In this direction, it may be interesting to analyze a final aspect related to the school, namely, the presenceof non-Italian students in the High schools. So, in the school year 2011/12, the young foreigners whoattended the High schools in Molise were 446, ie, 27,3% of the total number of foreign students (MIUR,2012, p. 30). It is also worth to highlight, according to the following table, that were more numerous theforeigners enrolled in those types of schools designed for direct insertion in the labor market, than theforeign students who chose an education in field of Humanities and Science Studies or in Art Studies:among the whole group of 446 foreign students, in fact, 174 people attended Technical Institutes (ie39,5%) and 122 were enrolled in Professional Institutes (hence they were 27,3%), for a sum of 296pupils (ie 66.4%), while the foreign students in the Scientific or Humanistic High schools were 119 andeven less (just 31) those who attended Art Institutes (MIUR, 2012, p. 30).

All what has been analyzed should be enough to state that actually the school represents an area ofinvestigation especially pertinent to understanding the evolution of the migratory phenomenon in Moliseand, more generally, in Italy; moreover it is also an important ground on which to play the possibility ofinclusion and integration of foreigners in the contemporary society97.

It is, therefore, "desirable and necessary that the Italian school system adapts to the structuraltransformations in society, namely, that the school changes, whilst retaining its irreplaceable educationaltask, which should aim to ensure equal dignity and equal right of formation both Italian students and theforeign ones"; for this purpose, the school should “train individuals – who have multiple identities(Giusti, 2004, pp.. 27-28) […] – to be capable of make plans of life and to realize themselves in society”,and at the same time, school should also “educate the future citizens to respect responsibly their dutiesand to claim their rights "(Pasquale, 2011, pp. 305-306).

5. CONCLUSIONS

The data presented in this work have shown that the stable presence of foreign people in Molise issignificantly lower than the national average and this represents a special feature of the region. Startingfrom the research carried out in recent years, in collaboration with the Region of Molise, it has beenpossible also to draw a quite clear picture of policies which were pursued for the welcome and the socialinclusion of these foreigners. A first aspect that emerges from the research is the remarkable variety ofactions in favour of the foreigners realized on the territory of Molise (such as the refugees welcome, the

97 With regard to policies promoted in Italy – and in Europe – for the integration of foreigners in society and in theschool, see, for example, a recent book by Sani (2012).

Humanitiesand

SciencesTechnical Professional Art Total

Province of Campobasso 84 143 121 22 370Province of Isernia 35 31 1 9 76

Molise 119 174 122 31 446

Table 14: Foreign students in the Molise region by type of High School, schoolyear 2011/2012 - based on MIUR data

Fields of Studies




social and labour policies and the initiatives for the education of foreign students). However, theseactions are rather fragmented and improvised, because they have been realized to satisfy the urgentneeds of the moment and don’t denote a common line of action in favour of the development of theterritory – which, even if slowly, is also changing in the composition of the resident population –. Inother words, it seems that there is not a policy intervention in the local territory that is shared by thevarious institutions: local authorities, third sector associations and voluntary organizations, schools,universities. Therefore it follows that the foreign people arrive in Molise because they are driven by aninterest in certain niches that exist in the local labour market, and not because they decide to settle in anarea where it was built a social system suitable for the integration and the embedding of population onthe territory. However it would advisable that local authorities and associations that operate in Molisepay attention to this model of social integration, to encourage foreigners to choose the Molise as a regionof interest not only for business purposes, but also to live adequately and satisfactorily with the family.

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Pasquale, G. (2011), ‘L’inserimento degli stranieri nella società italiana e molisana: alcuni dati peranalizzare il fenomeno’, in S. Sani (ed.), Le nuove frontiere dell’educazione in una società multietnicae multiculturale, Pensa Multimedia Editore, Lecce.

Pinto Minerva, F. (2004), L’intercultura, Editori Laterza, Roma-Bari.

Pizzi, F. (2009), ‘Molise. Rapporto Immigrazione 2009’, in Caritas/Migrantes (eds.), Immigrazione.Dossier Statistico 2009. XIX Rapporto, Edizioni Idos, Roma.

Pugliese, E. (2008), ‘Conoscere l’emigrazione per comprendere l’immigrazione’, in N. Lombardi, L.Principe (ed.), Museo Nazionale delle migrazioni. L’Italia nel Mondo. Il Mondo in Italia, Ministerodegli Affari Esteri, Roma.

Refrigeri, L. (2011), ‘Il capitale sociale degli immigrati: un nuovo orizzonte di valori’, S. Sani(ed), Le nuove frontiere dell’educazione in una società multietnica e multiculturale, PensaMultimedia, Lecce.Refrigeri, L. (2011), ‘The changes in the labor market and the formation of the social capital of theimmigrants’, in Refrigeri L., (Ed.), Some perspectives of multiculturalism, AGORA UniversityPublishing House, Oradea.

Refrigeri, L. (2012), ‘Il ruolo della pedagogia nella formazione del capitale sociale collettivo’, in M.Antenucci, G. Bagno, A. Tirone, Accoglienza e solidarietà. Integrazione degli alunni stranieri nellescuola molisane, B&C Advertising, Termoli.

Sani, S. (2012), L’integrazione sociale e scolastica degli immigrati in Europa e in Italia, PensaMultimedia Editore, Lecce.

Sarno, E. (2009), Schiavoni, viaggiatori, emigranti. Studi di geografia storica sul Molise, Aracneeditrice, Roma.

Silva, C. (2008), Pedagogia, intercultura, diritti umani, Carocci Editore, Roma.

Wallnofer, G. (2000), Pedagogia interculturale, Bruno Mondatori, Milano.




THE MODEL OF INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION IN ITALY: A LEGAL REVIEW

Serena Sani and Luca Refrigeri


Via F. De Sanctis, snc - 86100 Campobasso, Italy

Abstract

The aim of this work is to give an overview of intercultural education in Italian school starting from thelegal perspectives. Unlike Italy, in many European countries, since the middle of the 900, the issue ofinterculturality, in field of education, has become a real emergency. In this perspective, the Council ofEurope and UNESCO, in the Eighties of the last century, have focused their attention on this issue byadopting various pronouncements and recommendations. In Italy, however, the National Council ofEducation (CNPI) has ruled in favor of intercultural education much later – by means of differentstandards and ministerial circulars that have treated this issue explicitly – and only recently has defineda national model of intercultural integration in the school. The Molise, as region with specialcharacteristics, is trying to find its own model of integration through a research called Plism entrustedby the Region at the University of Molise.

Key words: Education, Interculturalilty, Integration, Italy, Molise, School legislation

1. INTRODUCTION

The significant presence of foreign students in Italian schools is, undoubtedly, a clear challenge to theeducational institutions of our country, as they have to face the need to develop appropriate educationalstrategies designed to respond effectively to the needs of a social reality that, over the years, hasundergone profound structural changes, until it assumed an increasingly multiethnic and multiculturalcountenance.

In confirmation of this, it should be considered that, according to the estimates of the Ministry ofEducation, in the school year 2011/2012 there were 755.939 pupils with non-Italian citizenship in ourschools. In this regard, it is important to note that "according to the ratio of foreign students to the totalof the students, regarding nowadays compulsory education, 9 students over 100 are foreigners. On the whole, the pupilsundergo a slight decrease (-0.1%), which is more evident in primary and secondary level (-0.3%), whilethey tend to increase in kindergarten and first grade secondary school (respectively 0.4% and 0.3%)."This trend is driven by the continuous decline of Italian students, as opposed to the stronger presenceof students with non-Italian citizenship in any grade of study: compared with the previous school year,it has increased to 45,676 units, up to 6.4%".

In this regard, it is worth noting that "despite the increase of students with non-Italian citizenship hasalways been on the rise, the increase from year to year resulted descending. This year, instead, thephenomenon is in contrast, as, for the first time, the percentage change is greater than the previous year.




The overall increase of 6.4% was mainly due to non-Italian pupils born in Italy (44% of foreign studentsin total) rather than to the size of the migration flow (3.6%)"98.

2. ITALIAN SCHOOL LEGISLATION IN THE FIELD OF INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION

The theme of intercultural education has revealed to be urgent not only in our country, but also in manyother European nations. On this side, in fact, on several occasions the Council of Europe and theUNESCO have focused on this matter and have issued various pronouncements and recommendationssince the eighties99.

On this subject, even the National Council of Education (CNPI) intervened with its pronouncements infavor of intercultural education, followed by different rules and ministerial circulars that addressed theissue explicitly.

In this regard, we plan to look more closely at those which, in our opinion, provide more guidance andare aimed at all levels of school.

The concept of intercultural education is introduced for the first time with the Ministerial Circular no.205 of the 22 July 1990 on Obligatory schooling and foreign students. Intercultural education. It isconceived as a response to the new demand for a multicultural society and aims at promoting a cultureof acceptance and the integration of people belonging to other cultures and ethnicities.

Within the Circular in question, particularly significant are the indications concerning the educationalinterventions, which should aim, even in those classes where there are no foreign students, at promotinga culture of dialogue and tolerance100.

In particular, within this circular it was stated that: "the primary objective of intercultural education isthe promotion of the ability of a constructive coexistence in a multi-cultural context. It involves not onlythe acceptance and the respect of diversity, but also the recognition of the cultural identity in the dailysearch for dialogue, understanding, collaboration, in a perspective of mutual enrichment ".

With this Circular, therefore, the Ministry of Education acknowledged that "intercultural education is astructural condition of a multicultural society, and the school, exercising the role of mediator betweendifferent cultures, must also become the animator of a continuous, productive comparison betweendifferent models "(Durino Allegra, 1993, p. 67). It was also required to the teachers "not to force foreignstudents to follow the patterns of Western culture as if they were the best possible, and to remember thatthis ethnocentric vision should be avoided even when the class consists of foreign students only"101,because the educational action is directed not only to the historical present, but also to the future.

98 See also: http://hubmiur.pubblica.istruzione.it//notiziario_stranieri_11_12.pdf99 See also la raccomandazione del Consiglio D’Europa “La formazione degli insegnanti a una educazioneper la comprensione interculturale, particolarmente in un contesto di migrazioni’(1984); documenti distudio: “Formare gli insegnanti all’educazione interculturale" (1986); "L’educazione interculturale"(1989).100 Cfr. Commissione Nazionale per l’Educazione Interculturale, Educazione interculturale nella scuoladell’autonomia, Spaggiari, Parma, 2000, p. 24.101 C.M. n. 205, La scuola dell’obbligo e gli alunni stranieri: L’educazione interculturale.




Of fundamental importance is also the C. M. n. 73 of 2 March 1994 on Intercultural dialogue anddemocratic coexistence: the planning effort in the school that, as well as incorporating the issue of theintegration of foreign students in schools of any grade and level, addresses the matter of the importanceof preventing any form of racism and anti-Semitism and mentions the possibility of the emergence of"the intercultural value of all disciplines"102.

In this circular is also stated that it is "in the universal value of the person that the foundation of acommon culture resides, and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (ONU, 1948) the expressionof general consensus values is recognised "; it was also highlighted that, to create an interculturalcontext, the awareness of their own identity and roots is necessary as an essential basis for comparison".

Unlike the previous ones, this circular made a specific reference to the role and prerogatives that shouldbe employed in the various disciplines taught at school, "drawing inspiration from the indications in thesyllabus and reading them vertically reading them," so as to extract from them some real interculturalobjectives.

A final aspect in this document, that we consider worth pointing out, is the one related to the theme ofacceptance: "The school must keep in mind the conditions of general discomfort of the families and, inparticular, the problems resulting from the eradication of the pupil from the original environment. Therelationship with the families and with the community allows the knowledge of the different situations,with reference to the guidelines and ways of life of the country of origin [...]. In reference to any typeand grade of school, socialization between Italian and foreign students (also achieved throughrecreational activities and non-verbal language) is the first prerequisite for the development of commonintercultural activities and a facilitating element for learning Italian as second language by foreigners. "

Precisely in this perspective, the teaching methods have been redesigned over the last two decades inorder to encourage forms of dialogue and interaction between pupils able to promote their awarenessthat "the knowledge and the relationships (cognitive and social) are the result of a collective construction"(Frigerio, 1996, p. 257), to which every person has the duty to bring her unique contribution.

Undoubtedly, the provisions in the Law no. 40 of 6 March 1998 on the regulations governingimmigration and the status of foreigners are important as well. In it, the emphasis is on the educationalvalue of linguistic and cultural differences and, as highlighted in the Art.36, "(---) in the exercise ofteaching and organizational autonomy" it is necessary to promote "intercultural projects of improvementof the educational syllabus, aimed at the appreciation of differences in language and culture and at thepromotion of reception and exchange initiatives" in the schools103.

Along the same line is is the Legislative Decree no. 286 of 25 July 1998 on the "Consolidated text ofprovisions governing immigration and the status of foreigners". In this Decree, we may identify aparticular attention to all those activities designed to promote the integration of foreigners and to makethe right to education effective. With this purpose, the school should promote the teaching of the Italianas a second language, to respect the language and culture of the countries of origin, as well as providethe training to the teachers and social integration to the immigrants104.

102 Ibidem, pp. 24-25.103 Pubblicata sulla Gazzetta Ufficiale, n. 59 del 12 marzo 1998 – Supplemento Ordinario, n. 40.104 Decreto Legislativo n. 286 del 25 luglio 1998, pubblicato sul supplemento ordinario alla GazzettaUfficiale, n. 215 del 15 settembre 1998.




With regard to teacher training it is also important to remember the DPR n. 394 of 31 August 1999 onthe "Implementation Rules of the Consolidated provisions concerning immigration and the regulationson the immigration of foreigners" in which, in addition to various provisions concerning the insertionof foreign students in our school system and certain indications on the division into classes, is ensuredthe Ministry's commitment to support the training of teachers through the realisation of projects aimedat upgrading and training, on the national and local level, regarding issues related to interculturaleducation. Moreover, this commitment is also reiterated in the C. M. n. 155 of 2001, in which additionalfunds for the teaching activities will be destined to all those schools with an attendance of foreignstudents and nomads superior than 10% of the members105.

The legislative measures mentioned are only a part of the various regulations issued in the last few years,in favor of the integration of foreigners in the context of the Italian school. Among these, we wish topoint out the Ministerial Circular no. 24 of 2006 on the "Guidelines for the reception and integration offoreign students", which emphasizes the importance of paying a particular attention to the reception ofminors and also provides many guidelines and suggestions to organise the teaching and to facilitate theirintegration and success in education and training106, as well as the important Document The Italianapproach to the intercultural school, edited in October 2007 by the National Observatory for theintegration of foreign students and the intercultural education, established in December 2006 by theMinistry of Education.

About this last document, it is particularly noteworthy what was stated stated in the introduction aboutthe reasons that led the Ministry to wanting to find a purely Italian model of intercultural school. In thisregard, it is stated: "The goal of identifying an Italian model derives from the need to draw attention onspecific conditions, choices and actions that characterized the Italian experience; to identify the strengthsthat have to become "system "; to identify the weaknesses that should be dealt with new practices andresources; to give visibility to new goals and projects"107.

The aspiration to create an Italian model of integration can also be found in the document edited by theImmigration Committee, Observations and Proposals on the second generations and policies for theschool, approved by the National Council of Economy and Labour (CNEL) on January 31, 2008. In thisdocument, it is stated that in terms of integration, the Italian set of rules is oriented towards a differentmodel than those of the other European countries, that is a model that is "neither inclusive " such as theFrench one, "nor (- -) multicultural "as promoted by the United Kingdom. According to the drafters ofthe document, in fact, these countries "are both dramatically proving their limits up against the diversenature of migration, injustice and marginalization, social arrangements, new and serious problems, theinternational context."

The model proposed by the Committee for Immigration has the ambition to pursue "a process ofrecognition, dialogue, confrontation" that not only promotes the respect for cultural diversity, but also

105 Circolare Ministeriale 26 ottobre 2001, n. 155, Prot. n. 520, Oggetto: Scuole collocate in zone a forteprocesso immigratorio (artt. 5 e 29 del C.C.N.I. -Comparto Scuola- 1999) - Anno scolastico 2001/02, inEducazione e scuola, http://www.edscuola.it/archivio/norme/circolari/cm155_01.html.106 www.istruzione.it107 Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione, La via italiana per la scuola interculturale e l’integrazione deglialunni stranieri, Documento messo a punto dall’Osservatorio nazionale per l’integrazione degli alunnistranieri e per l’educazione interculturale, ottobre 2007, P. 5.




takes into account the differences as a resource and a moment of enrichment for both locals and forforeigners (CNEL, 2008, pp.. 9-10).

In line with the project addresses presented by the Ministry therein, we will start, in 2007, the NationalAction of training for multicultural schools directors, oriented in particular to those schools with a strongpresence of foreign students - and conducted through national training workshops and discussionsamong school leaders - and, in 2008, the National Plan for teaching Italian as a second language, orientedin particular to migrant students recently arrived to first and second grade secondary schools (Ongini,2011, p. 3).

The brief discussion conducted so far reveals a significant wealth of statements of principle. However,facing a rather evolved legislation about these issues, one can not but notice the countless shortcomingsin many Italian schools, where the inadequacy of the available financial resources adversely affects thepossibility to carry out projects aimed at encouraging the development of language skills, the trainingof teachers, the realisation of language laboratories, the presence of cultural mediators and the supportfrom local institutions, as well as the increase of initiatives to provide a better knowledge of thelanguages and cultures of origin and of aids from the social services in the area and funds proportionateto the needs of the projects often launched and then discontinued for lack of funds.

In conclusion, one has the impression that, on the issue of the integration of foreign students, "ourschools are even equipped primarily to manage the first phase of the integration of pupils with non-Italian citizenship" (CNEL, 2008 pp. 12-13).

These limits require a decisive approach that can not be left to improvisation, but, on the contrary, hasto be planned carefully.

In this regard, it proves essential to create a training system able to educate permanently and positivelyto the values and principles aimed at grasping the dignity of the human person without reserve; toconsider the different - in our case the alien - as a subject of rights and duties and as a potential resourcefor the host country; to emphasize the importance of protecting certain inalienable rights that are properto the human person; to realise educational interventions and initiatives of a clearly intercultural origin.In essence, the goal that should be pursued is to give life to a real cultural exchange through whichstakeholders can learn to use their communication skills to interact with each other and to start areciprocal and balanced relationship, based on active listening and respect of the differences.

3. THE LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND TEACHING IN INTERCULTURAL SCHOOL

In a cross-cultural perspective, the school has to educate the students to develop "a sense of belongingto humanity" (Santerini, 2006, pp.. 12-13) and a spirit of "brotherhood" capable of overcoming languageand cultural barriers and aimed at enhancing the common universal principles shared by all humans.

Moreover, on a practical level, intercultural education must be translated into a series of training andeducational activities to promote active listening, communication, respect and the ability to interact andengage with each other on a par basis and with the awareness that the other has its own way of thinkingand manage their own feelings that must be accepted and respected (Portera, 1992, pp.. 219-221).

In the end, the school has to realise a series of training and educational activities aimed at promoting theprocesses of integration and learning, but, above all, it must focus on a solid intercultural training forthe teachers. In this regard, it is essential to provide them with a valid and continuous professionaltraining including also the acquisition of all the knowledge and the relational skills needed to effectively




carry out a process of intercultural education. In this respect, acquiring the concept of interculturalmeans, on the one hand, promoting in the students the ability to interact and relate to the other, and, onthe other hand, working on themselves, on their way to relate to immigrant pupils and to consider theircultural differences, as well as: "Rethinking their teaching methods through a review of the contents andmethods; adopting attitudes in favour of the establishment of a 'scholastic climate' of openness anddialogue in the classroom and to the development of a perception of diversity as an enrichment; and asa mutual access to new knowledge to be able to manage this complexity; adopting critical-reflectiveattitudes related to the experience in the teaching practices and an attitude of research in collaborationwith groups of teachers and with the help of external experts, aiming at the realization of a project ofresearch-action, which constitutes an active method of in service education and continuousupdating"(Fiorucci, 2011, pp.. 79-88).

In the end, when relating to foreign students, we must always keep in mind that each of these studentshas his own life history, with its experiences, and a particular way of perceiving changes related to themigration experience and to the adaptation to the social reality and the culture of the host country.Furthermore, the barriers that immigrant students must face are many: just think about the difficulty ofcommunicating and interacting with their classmates because of the lack of knowledge of the languageand the inability to decode the implicit cultural system of the new society. This last difficulty, moreover,often causes a number of misconceptions and misunderstandings in the relationship with their colleaguesand with the teacher him/herself and can give rise to a strong sense of disorientation due to the fact that,in addition to the ignorance of the new system of implicit cultural rules, immigrant students already"carry with them a parallel system of implicit rules relating to their own culture of origin, which in mostcases are not known or are even subject to opposite interpretations in the culture of the host country"(Pinto Minerva, 2002, p . 44).

In order to transform these communication barriers into an opportunity for growth and mutualunderstanding for the students, the teacher must be able to recognize and be aware of the symbolicmeanings and values of the cultures of the children in that class in order to understand their needs andpromote common rules of coexistence (Demetrio, Favaro, 1997, p. 88).

As for the training and educational activities, if you want to realise a real transformation of the schoolin a inter-cultural sense, a radical revision of the programs, the organizational structures of the school,the languages and the relationship between the school and the area, as well as a rethinking of the teachingmethods and the criteria of orientation, evaluation and selection, is more necessary than ever. In short,the goal that we must pursue is to implement a concrete renewal of the school on an intercultural basis.

Rethinking the teaching in an intercultural logic, therefore, means to cultivate also on a practical levelthose concepts of complexity, of otherness and of identity that are at the basis of the interculturalreflection.

In general, the commitment of intercultural education should not be limited to the mere transmission ofthat notional knowledge already set within the curricula. It should, instead, promote a relational climateof openness and dialogue and - through the trial of specific educational activities – lead the students todiscover the differences and similarities, the respect for diversity and ways of thinking other than theirs,removing those prejudices that hinder the realization of a constructive dialogue.

The intercultural approach should also include the development of teaching methods designed toencourage the active participation of all pupils and to create, especially in the native students, a genuineinterest and curiosity about everything related to the culture, the traditions and the customs of othercountries, particularly those countries from which their foreign classmates come from.




4. CONCLUSION

Considering the results of the short close examination of the ministerial measures aimed at promotingthe integration of immigrant pupils and an intercultural education in Italian schools at all levels, it seemsimportant to pause and reflect on the primary objectives of the intercultural approach, which proposes,first, to overcome all those cultural patterns related to old stereotypes and prejudices, as well as theconsequent fear of losing their security, or even their own cultural identity.

Obviously, intercultural dialogue does not claim to be as the solution to all problems related toimmigration and integration, and doesn’t either pretend to give answers to all the questions that mayarise in this regard, however, it can definitely provide a valuable contribution "to the development ofdemocratic stability and to the fight against prejudice and stereotypes, both on the social and the politicallevel, and facilitate the development of alliances between cultural and religious communities, thushelping to prevent or mitigate conflicts, including in post -conflict or 'frozen conflicts'"108.

To exit the logic of closure and individualism to get closer to the others also requires the effort tounderstand their needs and the innumerable difficulties related not only to the problems andmisunderstandings that come from belonging to a different culture, but also the feelings of insecurityand inadequacy that the lack of reference points can arouse in an individual who finds himself living ina reality that does not belong to him and that, especially in the beginning, he is not able to handle. Theintercultural relations require, in fact, not only the willingness to learn about other cultures and torecognize and accept differences, but also a commitment to put in the middle of the relationship theindividuals themselves, bearing a specific cultural identity, with their life experiences, their hopes andtheir specific needs.

REFERENCES

CNEL, Osservazioni e Proposte Le seconde generazioni e le politiche per la scuola, in “Pronunce”, 37,Gennaio (2008).

Consiglio d’Europa, Libro bianco sul dialogo interculturale «Vivere insieme in pari dignità»,Strasburgo, 7 maggio 2008, F-67075, Strasbourg Cedex, Giugno (2008).

Commissione Nazionale per l’Educazione Interculturale, Educazione interculturale nella scuoladell’autonomia, Spaggiari, Parma, (2000).

Demetrio D., Favaro G. (Ed.), Bambini stranieri a scuola. Accoglienza e didattica interculturale nellascuola dell’infanzia e nella scuola elementare, La Nuova Italia, Firenze, (1997).

Durino Allegra A., (1993), Verso una scuola interculturale, La Nuova Italia, Firenze,.

Frigerio A., L'inserimento scolastico degli stranieri. Il quadro normativo, in Nigris E. (Ed.), Educazioneinterculturale, Milano, Bruno Mondatori, (1996).

Fiorucci M., La formazione degli insegnanti in prospettiva interculturale, in S. Sani (Ed.), Le nuovefrontiere dell’educazione in una società multietnica e multiculturale, Pensa Multimedia, Lecce, (2011).

108 Consiglio d’Europa, Libro bianco sul dialogo interculturale «Vivere insieme in pari dignità»,Strasburgo, 7 maggio 2008, F-67075, Strasbourg Cedex, Giugno 2008, p. 18.




Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione, La via italiana per la scuola interculturale e l’integrazione deglialunni stranieri, Documento messo a punto dall’Osservatorio nazionale per l’integrazione degli alunnistranieri e per l’educazione interculturale, ottobre (2007).

Nanni C., Pedagogia interculturale: su che basi e in che senso?, in Pedagogia interculturale: problemi econcetti, Brescia, La Scuola, (1992).

Ongini V., (2011) Il percorso di accoglienza ed integrazione scolastica degli “stranieri” nella scuolaitaliana, in http://www.istruzione.lombardia.it/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/RelazioneONGINI.doc

Pinto Minerva F., (2002) L’intercultura, Editori Laterza, Roma-Bari.

Portera A., Immigrazione, complessità, percorsi pedagogici interculturali. L’educazione interculturalecome risposta alla complessità, in “Scuola e didattica”, n. 11, (2005).

Santerini M., L’educazione alla cittadinanza tra locale e globale, in Luatti L., (Ed.), Il mondo in classe,Ucodep, Arezzo, (2006).




ELIZABETH CLARK AND PRE-SCHOOL TEACHERS’ TRAINING IN BULGARIA

Snezhana Vacheva

Konstantin Preslavsky University of Shumen

Abstract

The paper dwells on Elizabeth Klark’s pedagogical activities who personally set up a private course forpre-school teachers’ training. The author follows the course development which was supervised andmonitored by Elizabeth Klark for more than thirty years; the author also focuses on the attitude of theMinistry of National Education towards the course and the number of the post-graduates during theyears; the author also analyzes the school curricula applicable to the future pre-school teachers.

Key words: education, pre-school teachers, training

One of the most prominent figures in the sphere of pre-school education in Bulgaria is Elizabeth Klark.She was born in 1867 in the town of Plovdiv in a family of American missioners. Her father, JamesKlark arrived in Bulgaria to spread the protestant ideas and views. With respect to his missionary workhe used to cross the Bulgarian lands preaching and interpreting the Bible as well as spreading theBulgarian version of the Holy book [1,7]. Apart from his missionary work he took up the initiative toestablish schools in Bulgaria. In 1860 he set up a boys’ school in Plovdiv and three years later - a schoolfor girls in the town of Stara Zagora. James Klark is the first who suggested that a school in Samokovshould be opened. His son William also was eager to follow his father’s missionary activities. Hisdaughter Elizabeth, however, decided to dedicate her life to the education of pre-school children. Shemade the decision to establish pre-school educational institutions in Bulgaria and organize a trainingcourse for pre-school tutors. That decision was made under her father’s influence who was ratherfamiliar with the Bulgarian educational deeds and could easy conclude that the country was in need ofpublic pre-school training.

Elizabeth Klark decided not only to start a campaign for establishing pre-school educational institutionsin Bulgaria but also training pre-school teachers. The development of pre-school education is closelyrelated to pre-school teachers’ training. The first pre-school educational centers in the country wereestablished at the beginning of the 70s in XIXth century. The first attempts of training and teaching thechildren at pre-school age in Bulgaria met with failure. The content of the educational process did notapply to the age peculiarities of the pre-school children. Its main purpose was to make children learn theletters and “be familiar with the words”, as well as to get some idea what the table stood for. That waswhy the main method of teaching was based on sounds. The inadequate organization of the pedagogicalprocess in children’s institutions and the teaching material were the reason why “children are lying ontheir desk sleeping over their textbooks”. The drawbacks of the educational-instructive work came as aresult of the teachers’ methods of teaching who were not acquainted with the Western-Europeanteaching practices and the pedagogical system of the German padagogue Friedrich Frebel [10,162]. Theydid not have the professional training to work with pre-school children.

That was why with the establishment of the first pre-school institutions in Bulgaria the country founditself in great demand of qualified pedagogical teachers in kindergartens. The idea that the pre-school




teachers in Bulgaria should obtain a qualified training was developed, however, after Russian-Turkishwar.

Until the World War One the future pre-school teachers were trained only by private tutors, specializingabroad, attending a private or state pre-school teachers’ training course and in girls’ high schools. Thefounder of the private course is Elizabeth Klark.

She was born in 1867 in the town of Plovdiv and spent her childhood years in Plovdiv and Samokov.After that she studied in Tsarigrad (Istanbul) and America. In Chicago she finished a pre-schoolteachers’ college. After her graduation she left America and came back to Bulgaria. That happened in1897. In the following year she opened a kindergarten in the town of Samokov. Twenty children wereadmitted to study in it. Elizabeth Klark was a teacher in the kindergarten. Kaliopa Sechanova workedalong with her, who helped her in the mornings to organize the pedagogical process of the pre-schoolinstitution, and in the afternoons she carried out the theoretical activities. Kaliopa was the first pre-school teacher who was trained by Elizabeth Klark [7,24]. Probably the Secondary girls’ education lawfrom February, 1897, was one of the main reasons why Elizabeth had decided to set up a private pre-school teachers’ training course.

The law, which was issued during the ruling of the Minister of education Konstantin Velichkov, put anend to pre-school teachers’ training in girls’ high schools. The motives mainly concerned the drawbacksof the simultaneous training of both pre-school and primary teachers [ 2, 1198-1200].

In 1900 Elizabeth Klark decided to set up an elite kindergarten in Sofia which was known as “Americankindergarten”. At that time the pre-school educational centers were officially called “children’s school”.It was popular in Bulgaria as well, but its legal title was “children’s school”.

Along with the tuition of children in the kindergarten, a private pre-school teachers’ training course wasestablished in the boundaries of the kindergarten institution. The first student of the course was KrastinkaBoyadzhieva. She got the first pedagogical diploma which was signed by Elizabeth Klark. The reasonswhy there was only one student in the course are not known. The limited number of students in the pre-school teachers’ training course in the following years could be put down to the head of the courseherself. It was also possible that there were not enough applicants. If that was the reason this could bedue to the fact that the salaries of pre-school teachers were rather low. That’s why a bigger part of thestudents after graduation made their choice to work as primary teachers since they were better paid orthey could decide to find a job in other spheres. Another part of the students were not able to find a jobat all. According to L. Dorosiev who at that time was a deputy chief of the Ministry of NationalEducation, focused on the fact that there were only a few pre-school institutions in the country – 23.They were located in the regions of Burgas, Plovdiv, Sofia and Varna. There were six pre-schoolinstitutions in Burgas region. In Varna region – no more than 11 and in Plovdiv region – 5. There wasonly one pre-school in Sofia. L. Dorosiev pointed out that their number was less than it was fifteenyears ago. He considered that the National Education Law from 1891 set a normative basis for theirdevelopment, but the society was still passive in showing interest in public pre-school education. It wasnecessary especially in frontier regions where the population was of Greek, Romanian and Gagaouzorigin. It was important that the children from the minorities should learn Bulgarian language which ledto the need of pre-school institutions where the children could easily learn and adopt the Bulgarianlanguage and traditions before entering primary school [3,91]. The girls from the girls’ high schoolmight probably find it difficult when in search for a job since many schools were closed. As a result ofbad hygienic conditions in 1889-1902 around 50-60 schools were closed per year [3,93]. That also ledto closing of children’s schools which had been previously established as affiliated institutions of theschools.




The last students who were simultaneously trained as children’s and primary teachers, graduated in1901-1902 school year. The Ministry of National Education did not look for other opportunities intraining pre-school pedagogical specialists. Elizabeth Klark was familiar with that fact. The head of thecourse realized that there would be a shortage of pre-school teachers in the years to come. Probably thatwas one of the reasons why she decided to build a separate building where the kindergarten and thecourse could be set in.

In 1905 Elizabeth Klark built a three-storey building designed to be a kindergarten; a place for trainingpre-school teachers and a dwelling place as well. That was the first specialized building for pre-schooleducation in Bulgaria which was materially grounded. Better conditions for pre-school training werefurther established and maintained.

In 1901-1902 school year two students were trained there, Aneta Ignatova and Nataliya Grancharova.Until the beginning of 1910-1911 school year there were already 11 post-graduates and another threewho were still studying.

In 1910-1911 school year the students started the initiative to popularize the ideas of public pre-schooleducation. They gave lectures aiming to inform the society about Friedrich Frebel’s pedagogical systemand the educational activities in kindergarten. At that time the pre-school educational institutions werefew. Elizabeth Klark realized that the country was in great need of such institutions and assisted by hercharges decided to spread the idea of public pre-school education.

In 1912 she opened an affiliated branch of the Americam kindergarten in “Ucbunar” neighbourhood,where the children in the lowest income bracket were admitted. The pre-school teachers were beingtrained at that time in the central kindergarten and the affiliated branch who at that time were four innumber [7, 26].

Typically, the training course comprised a limited number of pre-school teachers. Until 1919 only 19girls were trained who undoubtedly could not satisfy the huge demand of pre-school teachers.

The popularity which the course gained in training pre-school teachers and the kindergarten itself, is thereason why the students in “Pedagogy” university subject in Sofia University have their pedagogicaltraining course in pre-school institutions. Though the kindergarten is not only visited by students but byschool inspectors as well, whose intent is to be acquainted with the conditions in the Americankindergarten and the pedagogical process in the institution.

Irrespective of the achieved results in the training of the future pre-school teachers, the Ministry ofPublic Education refused to employ in the state kindergarten the already graduated pre-school teachersstating that the course was private [3,26]. That resolution of the ministers, however, did not influencethe pedagogical activities of the head teacher. She continued to work devotedly for developing the pre-school education. Elizabeth Klark organized extra courses in the country which aimed to increase thequalification of the pre-school teachers [3,26]. At that time a big percentage of unqualified pre-schoolteachers worked in the kindergartens. She ran courses for these teachers in order to present and teachthem the content of the educational work in kindergartens. With that initiative she hoped to improve theprofessional skills of the participants in the course and the quality of the pedagogical process inkindergarten.

The private course for pre-school teachers’ training in the American kindergarten during the two warswas not in progress. After the First World War the Ministry of National Education was headed by StoyanOmarchevski. During his administrative control the National Education Law was issued. With referenceto article 21 of the respective law only qualified primary teachers or teachers who had done specialized




courses could work in pre-school educational institutions [4]. Though the Minister of NationalEducation Stoyan Omarchevski allowed, according to the new legal document, primary teachers to workin kindergartens, he realized that pre-school teachers were in need of special education. That was thereason why the minister legalized the pre-school teachers’ training course for pre-school educationalinstitutions in the American kindergarten in Sofia. That became explicit in the official state regulationN 19125 from 16th.VI. 1921 г., addressing the regional school inspectors and the school inspector inSofia. The official issue was sent to them so that they could popularize the course in front of primaryand elementary teachers. It states that the head teacher of the American kindergarten Elizabeth Klarkopens a two-year pre-school teacher’s training course. Only applicants with secondary high schoolcertificate or pedagogical education could be able to apply. The Ministry recommended the coursefocusing on the fact that the graduates would be given priority when being employed with regard tosome others who would have studied in other courses [4, 234-235].

The Ministry of National Education recommended the course since it realized the importance ofeducation in the development of pre-school children and was eager to expand the network of preschoolinstitutions. The country needed qualified pedagogues. It was obvious that the minister himself wasconvinced that the course helped the teachers obtain the necessary education and skills. This highlymotivated the educational institution and the course was officially acknowledged. That was a hugesuccess for Elizabeth Klark who in the following years worked avidly so that she could train adequateand efficient pedagogues in pre-school institutions.

After the wars the first and second-year students studied the following subjects: Frebel’s theory andpractice of the method, life and work of the prominent pedagogue, music, child psychology and pre-school education, English language and piano. There were extra classes, known as “conference”, inwhich the students discussed certain problems and topic arisen in the process of training.

Apart from these disciplines the second-year students studied history of pre-school pedagogy, paintingand hand-made art, as well as subjects which aim was to prepare the young ladies for their family life –family ethics, how to create a family atmosphere and other disciplines [7,45-46].

The curriculum shows that the students were mainly acquainted with the pedagogical system of theGerman pedagogue Frebel. Though at that time, in the 20s, in Bulgaria the pedagogical ideas of MariaMontessori were not new in Bulgarian pedagogical circle. She took a main part in the development ofpublic pre-school education all over the world. Certain reformative ideas were also spreading at thattime in our country concerning pre-school education. Elizabeth Klark could not be unfamiliar with themethod of projects, but most probably she did not teach it or if she did it was not singled in a separatediscipline such as the Frebel’s pedagogical system. She did her best to spread his system in the state.

D. Lazov, a school inspector from Sofia in 1920, organized a pre-school teachers’ conference for thosewho had graduated the high school. A graduate from Frebel Institute in Dresden, Germany, EvgeniyaMilkova, presented a report. She and Elizabeth Klark went into a discussion in which the latter defendedthe new ideas of the overall education, and Evgeniya Milkova – the Frebel’s ideas. The participants inthe conference also observed certain practical activities in the American kindergarten [5,8-9]. That factshows that the Elizabeth Klark’s pre-school educational institution continued to gain recognition in thesociety. Thanks to its head it turned into an educational-instructive institution which educated andtrained not only pre-school teachers but had also qualified working teachers. The discussion betweenEvgeniya Milkova and Elizabeth Klark proved that the latter adopted the theory of the overall education.In America that branch of the reformative pedagogy is popular under the name of “project method”. Itwas successfully distributed there. Elizabeth Klark adopted the idea that elements from variouspedagogical systems should combine in the pedagogical process.




The need for prepared qualified teachers in the kindergartens asked for respective actions on the part ofthe Ministry of National Education. As a result of it the Ministry officially allowed Evgeniya Milkovato open a second private course in 1921-1922. Unlike the course in the American kindergarten whichtypically lasted for two years that new course lasted a year. The disciplines in the course were taught byEvgeniya Milkova herself. The students studied the following disciplines: pedagogy, psychology,Frebel’s method, story-tales, games, songs, crafts – cardboard sewing, stitching, marching. The trainingwas run in Evgeniya Milkova’s home, and the games in the gym of the First girls’ high school. Thepedagogical practices were carried out in the children’s home “Mother’s care”. On 12th, July, 1922, 10students successfully finished the course [6, 34].

The comparative analysis of the curricula of both courses show that the content of the teaching materialwas quite different. In Elizabeth Klark’s course there were disciplines which were not taught in thesecond pre-school teachers’ course: music, children’s psychology and pre-school education, Englishlanguage and piano. Important subjects were the history of pre-school pedagogy and art. The latter werenot taught in Evgeniya Milkova’s course. It is a curious fact that Elizabeth Klark included disciplineswhich trained the future pre-school teachers for their family life as well. The head teacher of the coursewas eager to prepare her students not only for teacher’s profession in pre-school institutions but also toprepare and train them for being good housewives and mothers. At that time such disciplines were notincluded in the curriculum of the pedagogical schools. The longer courses that Elizabeth Klark offeredprovided the girls with a better training and education.

The pre-school teachers’ training courses comprised a limited number of girls. Until 1919 only 19 girlsfinished the course who could not satisfy the increasing demand in the country for pre-school teachers.

In 1925 the head of the course Elizabeth Klark in pre-school teachers’ training of the Americankindergarten in Sofia left for America with her charge Penka Kasabova, who was admitted to theAmerican kindergarten in Sofia in 1919. The first two years she studied under the guidance of ElizabethKlark. At that time she was the only student in her course. After graduation she started working as a pre-school teacher in the same kindergarten.

In 1927 Elizabeth Klark and Penka Kasabova came back to Bulgaria. Elizabeth took the ruling of thecourse, Penka Kasabova, on her part, got a job as a pre-school teacher in the kindergarten. The twoteachers immediately took up the challenge to change the educational curriculum of the students.

A special place was given to disciplines related to the artistic-aesthetic circle, which were taught byoutside lecturers.

A great interest was shown with respect to the versatile forms of practical activities. There were practicaltraining classes in the first and second year of education. During the first half of the year the first-yearstudents were only viewers. They took the part of the children, playing, singing and other activities. Inthe second half of the year they were already assistant-tutors. They assisted the teacher taking part inthe organization of the children activities, in plays and singing. The students also had the task to monitorthe children with specific educational needs.

At the beginning of their second year of studying under the guidance of the pre-school teachers theyimplemented different regime moments and at the end of the second year they already organized thewhole daily regime which was carried out in the main kindergartens. The head of the course monitoredthe students’ activities and during the time of conversing she supported them analyzing their mistakesand handicaps so that they could better organize their practical work. In practical classes the tutor inPractical classes and pre-school pedagogy decided whether the classes would be group - or individuallyoriented. The former were run in the afternoon in class, whereas the latter were carried out in




kindergartens. The head teacher afterwards made a psychological-pedagogical analysis of the practicalwork and answered questions.

At the end of the course the students sat a theoretical exam in pedagogical disciplines and a practicalexam in the kindergarten. Before the last exam they passed a trial practical period in a children’s groupwhere the practical exam was typically taken. It also ended in a conference [7,45-48].

The analysis of the updated curriculum shows that there were more pedagogical disciplines in it. VeraNacheva – Petkova points out that the discipline ‘pre-school education’ was taught, not ‘pre-schoolpedagogy’. She might probably have made an involuntary mistake since in the curriculum there was asubject such as pre-school pedagogy. She may have wrongly written the name of the discipline.Irrespective of the name of the discipline it becomes clear that a separate pedagogical discipline wastaught which dwelt on topics concerning pre-school children’s training and education. Until that momentthere had not been any data that such a subject was present in the curriculum followed by the pre-schoolteachers. Consequently it could be assumed that this discipline was taught after the WWI. Most probablythe first lecturer in pre-school pedagogy was Elizabeth Klark.

Later, however, the name of the discipline was changed to “children’s psychology and pedagogy”. Forexample in the curriculum pointed out by Vera Nacheva-Petkova, which might have been active at thebeginning of the 30s of XXth century [7.48].

It comprised disciplines such as : theory and practice in Frebel’s method, children’s psychology andpedagogy; note literacy, children’s songs and music culture; the meaning of story-telling and the way ofinterpreting story-tales; children’s hygiene; painting and designing; hand-made and artistic activities;piano lessons; household culture and history of pre-school education. Elizabeth Klark taught thediscipline “theory and practice by Frebel’s method”. She devotedly told her students about thepedagogical work and activities of the outstanding pedagogue. The head teacher of the course alongwith her associates decided to popularize his and other pedagogical systems.

On 24th, November, 1928 those who graduated the pre-school teachers’ training course set up “FriedrichFrebel” association. Among its founders were: Elizabeth Klark, Penka Kasabova, Vera Nacheva-Petkova, M. Periklieva, V. Lazkova, M. Bizeva and others. They set the following tasks:

- to spread the new educational ideas in the country and help in the process of applying them;

- to protect the children’s rights;

- to understand the child’s needs and support him/her in their overall development;

- to establish cooperation and solidarity among the members of the association;

- to give a testimonial to the pedagogues [6, 192].

It becomes rather obvious from the above said that the founders of the association were eager andwilling to modernize the educational-instructive process in kindergartens and master the professionalskills of the pre-school teachers. The initiators of the association suggested that they could take part inthe process of giving a testimonial to the pedagogical specialists. In that way they thought that theywould maintain the high quality of the pedagogical activities of the pre-school teachers. Their idea ofprotecting children’s rights was extremely valuable, adequate and up-to-date.

In the course for pre-school teachers’ training associated with the American kindergarten from 1923 to1932 a number of eighty-seven girls studied. In 1923 three students finished successfully, in 1924




another three, in 1925 – 2, in 1926 – 3, in 1927 – 5, in 1928 – 9, 1929 – 8, 1930 – 6, 1931 – 22 and in1932 – 26 [5,49]. A bigger part of them got a job in kindergartens. The professional training that thestudents obtained in the course gave them the opportunity to make progress in their pedagogicalactivities. Unfortunately some representatives of the local authority refused to employ them claimingthat the course was protestant-oriented. That was the case with Vera Parashkevova, who had difficultieswhen trying to apply for a position in a part-time kindergarten in the town of Varna. Indeed, ElizabethKlark, irrespective of the fact that she was a protestant, she personally had never persuaded her chargesto adopt the protestant beliefs. Consequently, it is rather irrational and groundless that the course bedefined as protestant-oriented.

In 1932 Penka Kasabova became the head teacher of the pre-school teachers’ training course in theAmerican kindergarten, and Elizabeth Klark left for Knezha, where she established anotherkindergarten. Regardless of the fact that she was no longer a head teacher of the course the rulingmembers in the government could not ignore her contribution to the development of the public pre-school education in the country.

On 16th, April, 1937 the students in the course of the American kindergarten organized a celebrationwith respect to the 100th anniversary of the opening of the first kindergarten in the world. That holidaywas dedicated to the opening of a kindergarten by Friedrich Frebel. It became obvious that it was notknown in the country that there had been other kindergartens before Frebel’s pre-school educationalinstitution. In that respect the organizers of the event pointed out that the forum was dedicated to thefirst kindergarten established in the world. Elizabeth Klark was given an award by the Ministry of PublicEducation, “Cyril and Metodius” badge, I level for her huge contribution to the development of the pre-school education in Bulgaria [6]. That award was an expression of the public gratitude with respect toher dedicated work not only for the development of kindergarten institutions in Bulgaria but also in pre-school teachers’ training.

More than 30 years Elizabeth Klark made great efforts to train pre-school teachers in Bulgaria. Thanksto her initiative highly qualified pre-school teachers were trained who on their part establishedkindergartens and popularized the ideas of public pre-school education. Despite the fact that she hadAmerican background, Elizabeth Klark worked devotedly for years for our pre-school education. Shehas left her undeniable marks in the history of Bulgarian pre-school educational institution.

REFERENCES

1. Angelova, R. (2003) The periodical press of the protestant churches in Bulgaria (1844-1944).Bibliographical review. Preface, editing board, notes, S. 91.

2. Brakalov, Iv. Brief historical article on the development of secondary pedagogical education in thecountry. School overview, 1930, book 8, 1198-1200.

3. Dorosiev, L. A report addressed to Mister Minister of National Education about the public primaryeducation in 1901-1902. School overview, year VIII, 1903, IV edition, 93-94.

4. Alteration and amendment law , articles 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10 and next under the Public education lawand articles 1-11 of the Law of the State Music School. – State newspaper, issue 87, from 21st, 07,1921. 1-4.

5. Lazov, D. The activities of the American kindergarten in Sofia. – First steps, 1940, book 5, 9-10.




6. Lekarski, Iv. (1945) Pre-school institutions in the country until 1945. S.; a typewriting originalpreserved in the museum of the history of Sofia. S. 145.

7. Nacheva-Petkova V. (1999) From the history of pre-school education in Bulgaria. S.: KlimentOhridsky University Press, 195.

8. Regional issued regulation N 19125 from 16th.VI. 1921. – School overview, Annual proceedingsXX, books VI and VII. 234-235.

9. CDA – f.177, op. 2, а. е. 834.

10. Tsankov, Dr. Nursery-school and school for children from two to seven years of age, “Chitalishte”magazine, The head of basic education, 1874, book 11. 162-180.

11. http://ebox.nbu.bg/pro/10%20Hristo%20Kulichev%20+.pdf.




THE STRATEGY OF EQUAL APPROACH TO STUDYING WITHOUT BARRIERS

IN UNIVERSITY ENVIRONMENT FOCUSED ON THE UNIVERSITY

OF OSTRAVA

Martin Kaleja and Eva Zezulková

Department of Special Pedagogy, Faculty of Education, University of Ostrava,

Varenská 40a, 702 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic

AbstractThe following article outlines the system of tertiary education in the Czech Republic, with emphasis onthe education of students with special educational needs at the University of Ostrava. It informs aboutthe progress of the project The Support of Tertiary Education of Students with Special EducationalNeeds at the University of Ostrava (reg. no. OP VK CZ.1.07/2.2.00/29.0006), its outputs andmechanisms supporting equal education. The aim of the project is creation of inclusive universityenvironment that is ready to accept students with special needs. The text thus presents the process ofinnovation of study conditions for all students, but with full respect to a priority requirement, which isthe completion of a studied subject in the scope given by proper accreditation.

Key words: tertiary education, student with special educational needs, college, university, integration,inclusion, projects, innovations in education.

1. THE UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

International Standard Classification of Education (abbr. ISCED) was prepared and issued by UNESCOin 1976. In 1997 the General Conference of UNESCO approved changes concerning the level ofeducation and also the field of study. The classification of ISCED from 1997 has 7 levels of education(0 to 6), which can further have an internal structure from A to C. In our conditions the levels ISCED 5and ISCED 6 represent university education comparable to other countries. In the Czech Republic as inother countries (e.g. Slovakia, Poland) since 2001 has existed structured three-level universityeducation. By that the level shows the reached degree of education. The first degree of education is thebachelor’s study, the second degree of education is the master’s study and third – the highest degree ofeducation is the doctoral study. The number of active students at all levels of university education isincreasing every year. In 2001 there were about 203 500 registered students, in 2010 there were already396 300. The highest share has the bachelor’s study – 62 % of students, followed by the subsequentmaster’s study – 22 % of students, then master’s unstructured study (preserved in selected subjects, e.g.General Medicine, Teaching for Primary Schools) – 10 % of students, and doctoral students representtotal of 6 % of students registered in 2010. (CZSO, online) At the university the education isimplemented in three forms – full-time, combined and distance.

Education is provided by state (2), public (26) and private (44) universities. If higher vocational schoolobtains an appropriate accreditation for given field of study of university education, it can provide theuniversity education in this subject (usually it concerns the first degree). The accreditation to all schoolsis given by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. The AccreditationCommission of the Czech Republic is an independent council that deals with the quality of university




education. For this purpose the Accreditation Commission carries out comprehensive assessment ofeducational, scientific, research, artistic or other creative activities of universities. (AC, online)

1.1 Education at the University of Ostrava

The University of Ostrava is one of the 26 public colleges in the Czech Republic having the status of auniversity. It has 6 faculties (Pedagogical Faculty, Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty ofScience, Faculty of Fine Arts and Faculty of Social Studies). Individual faculties offer subjects ofbachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree. The University of Ostrava has been awarded the prestigiousEuropean certificate, which demonstrates that the school teaches on the same principles as traditionalEuropean universities. It is the ECTS Label Certificate and it is awarded by the European Commission.In 2012 at the University of Ostrava 10 637 students studied in bachelor’s, master’s (long and short) anddoctoral programmes. 70 % of students studied the bachelor’s programmes and subjects (out of which69 % were in full-time programmes, and 29,3 % in combined programmes and 1,4 % in distance studyprogrammes). 6,9 % of students studied long master’s programmes, the number of 20,1 % studentsstudied in subsequent master’s programmes (out of which 73,9 % of students in full-time programmesand 26,1 % of students in combined ones). 3,4 % of students studied in doctoral programmes. At theUniversity of Ostrava study in total 68,6 % students in full-time programmes, and 27,9 % of students incombined programmes and distance ones. (Annual Report of the University of Ostrava, online 2013)

2. ON THE WAY TO INCLUSION IN THE EDUCATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OFOSTRAVA

The society approached people with disability in different ways in particular historical periods, usuallythe tendencies cannot be judged positively. An equal approach to people with disability did not mean alot to the intact society. Even today, this topic is rather ambiguous. There are still ongoing expertdiscussions about the scope and methods of ensuring equal approach towards people with disabilities,both in the general social, educational and professional, as well as in the family context. Many questionshave not been answered yet. The specialists explain the term “equal approach” variably, inconsistently,sometimes even ambivalently. Perhaps only because it is about relativism, and also because, with respectto the subject of interest of the special pedagogy, it is necessary to perceive the person (with or withoutdisability) in an individual way. About the concept of inclusive education in relation to pre-schooleducation, primary and secondary levels of education, we can find quite a number of research studies ofdomestic or foreign origin. The tertiary level of education with respect to special educational needs ofstudents with disability is scientifically explored only a little. In the following paragraphs there areoutlined the realized research and developmental activities, in which the authors of the text wereparticipating actively or they are still participating and on which they build the way to inclusion, i.e. theway to equal approach in the education of students with special educational needs.

In the academic year of 2012/2013 a total of 34 students with special educational needs studied at allfaculties at the University of Ostrava. For a long time the authors of the article have been engaged inresearch and developmental projects, where the target group consists of children, pupils and alsostudents with special/specific educational needs. Between years 2008 - 2011 at the “Centrum Pyramida”[”Pyramid” Centre] - the centre of support for students with special educational needs – they worked orco-worked on developmental projects focused on supporting the integration of students with healthdisabilities. In 2010 they dealt with a research called “Education of Pupils with Special EducationalNeeds from the Perspective of Frame Educational Programmes”, it was followed in 2011 by furtherresearch project called “Analysis of Key Determinants Influencing the Process of Education of Children,




Pupils and Students With Special Educational Needs in the Context of Frame EducationalProgrammes.” In 2012 they worked on a research with the topic “Analysis of Determinants Influencingthe Education of Students With Special Educational Needs at the University of Ostrava.” The lastmentioned research project was done parallel to currently running developmental project from EuropeanStructural Funds within the Operational Programme for Competitiveness (2012 – 2015) with the nameof “The Support of Tertiary Education of Students with Special Educational Needs at the University ofOstrava” (registration number: CZ.1.07/2.2.00/29.0006). It is a university project, in which all thefaculties are involved. The project concept is based on the philosophy from the Convention on the Rightsof Persons with Disabilities, based on the Act no. 198/2009 Coll., on Equal Treatment and on LegalMeans of Protection against Discrimination and on Amendment to some Laws. It is in accordance withthe Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which explicitly prohibits discriminationagainst the disabled. Further it follows the National Plan for the Creation of Equal Opportunities forPeople with Disabilities for 2010 – 2014, which states a claim that a person with health disability isoffered a reasonable modification according to individual needs and education. It is also in accordancewith the National Action Plan on Inclusive Education, which was approved by the Government of theCzech Republic in 2010. In the specific strategic objectives in the sphere of education in the Long-TermStrategic Plan of the University of Ostrava for 2011 – 2015 there is besides other things mentioned anactive support for students with specific needs. A practical objective of currently solved developmentalproject “The Support of Tertiary Education of Students with Special Educational Needs at the Universityof Ostrava” is a creation of supportive measures to equal education so as the modifications of study andeducational procedures come out of evaluation of specific needs of a student with special educationalneeds, not from the nature of their health disability. The implementation of the project counts oncoordinated cooperation of academic and other university staff. Its contribution is structured into 5 keyspheres: innovation of study programmes, fields of study and subjects, increase of professionalcompetences of academic and other staff, implementation of a system monitoring the needs of the labourmarket for the graduates, architectural accessibility of buildings for students with special educationalneeds and creation of an inclusive environment.

The starting point of the key activities included in the project is a principle that the university is obligedto accept a student with specific needs, if the possible adaptation of study does not prevent thegraduation in the studied field in the scope given by proper accreditation, only with modification offormal (technical and organizational) side of the study. The primary aim of the wide research team is tofind out and verify the possibilities and circumstances of the adaptation of study for students withspecific needs. For this purpose the strategy of innovation of study subjects in the selected field of studywas chosen. The basic principles of innovation are based both on respect to the demands of the universityfor graduating particular subject, and also on the respect to special educational needs of students withhealth disability. The scope of specification of special educational needs of a student and of studyingconditions including their possible modification is due to the variability of symptoms of health disabilityindividual and it is based on number of factors, not only the type of disability and the content of a studyplan. The university education in addition puts a considerable demand on a student in the sphere ofsocial and speech communication, work with written texts, work with symbols and graphics, multimediawork (audio-visual materials), demands on the usage of technologies, or working with physical materialduring lessons and while studying, etc.

The precondition for creation of equal opportunities to study and at the same time the central philosophyof this project is the understanding of the term “special educational needs”, the understanding that everyperson with health disability needs individual level of help or compensation for satisfaction of basichuman needs, where the need for education belongs as well. This help, however, does not mean any




exceptional need, but a set of measures that lead to enable access to the possibility of fulfilment andrealisation of one’s basic needs. By the set of measures is understood a summary of service activitiesprovided by the university, which arise from the requests for functional diagnostics according to thecurrently valid typology of students with special educational needs.109

The service measures include, e.g. access to study literature, recording / visualization services,interpreting services, individual education, study assistance, personal assistance, spatial orientationtraining, diagnostics, overhead measures, time compensation, etc. To make the university accessible forpeople with health disability requires to create environment, which is characterized by understandingthe differences of students, by the atmosphere of perception and empathy in the relation to specialeducational needs of students arising from the presence of disability, as well as to create an easy-access(communicative, informative, architectural). During education further basic needs of human must bealso satisfied, i.e. the sense of security, belonging, mutual respect, which are not defined by any directiveor decree, but which belong to the set of supportive measures inseparably. Equal opportunities can becreated only by mutual active approach both from the side of students with specific needs, and also fromthe side of the university. The Centre of Support for Students with Special Needs (“Pyramid” Centre)has the coordinating role in the whole process at the University of Ostrava. The aim of accessibility ofeducation is not to create a “greenhouse environment”, in which we would create the barriers, but tomodify conditions of entrance examinations, study conditions and study environment so as on thecontrary we can break down the barriers. The parts of the project are thus mandatory courses to increasepersonal and professional competences of academic and non-academic staff of the University of Ostrava.

3. THE INNOVATION OF FIELDS OF STUDY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OSTRAVAThe project involves the staff of all the faculties of the University of Ostrava, while the innovationconcerns mainly fields of study resulting from the internal analysis for education of students with specialeducational needs at the University of Ostrava. Those are e.g. the fields of study like Teaching for Pre-Schools (Pedagogical Faculty), Teaching for Primary Schools (Pedagogical Faculty), Special Pedagogy(Pedagogical Faculty), Information Technology (Pedagogical Faculty), Pedagogy (PedagogicalFaculty), Social Pedagogy (Pedagogical Faculty), Applied Information Technology (Faculty ofScience), Physiotherapy (Faculty of Medicine), Occupational Therapy (Faculty of Medicine), Medical-Social Care (Faculty of Social Studies) and others. The internal analysis was done before submitting theproject application and so it also became a motivating and supporting material for creating the project.

The aim of the key activity focused on innovation of the studying subjects is the adjustment of studyingand educational procedures based on evaluation of specific needs of a student with special educationalneeds, not on the nature of their health disability. It is necessary to stress that the features of theinnovation of studying and educational procedures including the demands of students with specialeducational needs are of inclusive nature because at the same time they can improve educationalpossibilities of all students at the University of Ostrava. Innovated subjects will be offered to studentsas substituting or supportive.

· A substituting subject (compulsory or compulsory elective) considers a modified structure ofcompleting the subject, which is a part of the studying plan. The modification must not change the aims

109 The Rules for Provision of Grants and Subsidies to Public Universities by the Ministry of Education, Youthand Sports, no.MŠMT-1325/2012-33 from January 17th, 2012, specifying the financing of the increased costs foreducation of students with specific needs.




and the content of the subject or the obtained qualifications. On the contrary, the modification isexpected in the requirements for a student (solely from the organisational, technical and materialperspective, not as regards content)110, educational methods, assessing methods and categories ofstudying, which means all the activities a student performs to reach the studying output. We must alwaystake into account adequate and acceptable modifications in accordance with the conditions forcompleting the subject. For example an oral exam of a student with strong hearing impairment wouldtake place with the presence of an interpreter into the Czech sign language, a student with strong visualdisability obtains the credit through verbal presentation, conversely, in the case of a student with stronghearing impairment through written task fulfilment. Other possible modifications include increasing theamount of time for fulfilling tasks, studying assistance services, personal assistance services, the usageof special tools, the adjustment of the environment, etc.

· A supportive subject (elective) means creating a new subject that a student chooses to be ableto meet the requirements of the studying plan (e.g. a student with strong hearing impairment chooses asubject focused on teaching Czech language in order to understand the terminology of the given field,etc.).

The outputs of the key activity focused on the innovation of subjects also include modified educationaldocuments closely related to the innovated subject (see table no. 1). Studying support in a digital formaccessible to all students takes into account a large amount of possible demands (even before they areclaimed by individual students). It is a desirable non-discriminating approach that the universities shouldconsider a part of the anticipation of the requirements of students with special educational needs. If thesubject contains e-learning features (e.g. the lecture takes place in a virtual environment), it must beaccessible for all the students of a specific subject or such an adjustments must be implemented thatenables the students with disability to access equivalent educational opportunities (e.g. for a student withstrong visual disability). During the project a pilot testing will be done on 20 innovated subjects withinthose fields of study, where students with special educational needs are currently studying. Theirparticipation is necessary in order to identify possible obstacles in studying and evaluating innovatedsubjects.

Table 1. The overview of the outcomes of key activity focused on the innovation of the field of study.The Outputs of Key Activity No. of Products

Innovated subjects for students with specificeducational needs (SEN)

100

Innovated subjects for students with SEN tested inpilot testing

20

Studying support in electronic form 100

E-learning courses 35

Adaptation of courses (educational CD) 35

110 What a student must do to meet the requirements of the subject (lecture participation, continuous fulfilling ofcorrespondence tasks, handing in an essay, etc.)




The Outputs of Key Activity No. of Products

Adaptation of courses (educational DVD) 35

Methodical recommendation for further creation of the innovation of subjects

Methodical recommendation for following accreditation and reaccreditation processes ofchosen fields of study

4. OTHER MECHANISMS TO SUPPORT INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AT THEUNIVERSITY OF OSTRAVA

The key activity focused on increasing professional competences of academic and other staff of theuniversity aims to prepare the staff to possible difficulties that students with special educational needsand also the staff involved with them meet. One of the outputs is the course Students with SpecialEducational Needs at Universities (K1), a course focused on methodological preparation of lectures andthe creation of presentations using modern technologies (K2), Sign Language Course – beginners (K3),Sign Language Course – advanced (K4), a course supplemented with practice or fellowship in chosenworkplaces, focused on modification of electronic texts for readers with visual disability and alsofocused on work with digital library for students (K5) and a Course of Personal Assistance (K6). Theaims of the activity are based on the precondition of the necessity of increasing the competence of theuniversity staff in the sphere of communication with individuals with health disability. It involvesgaining information, pieces of knowledge and competences.

Table 2. Courses for the university staff.Course K1 K2 K3111 K4112 K5 K6

No. ofsuccessfullysupported staffmembers

79 78 8 8 81 taking placein winterterm 2013

The system of monitoring the needs of labour market provides the university graduates with publishedworks and conference outputs. Empirically there is investigated the monitoring and work success ofstudents with special educational needs with regard to current trends in the employment policy. Itinvolves updating the Methodology of Support and Balancing the Conditions during Studying ofStudents with Special Educational Needs at the University of Ostrava (the latest version in 2012), withmethodological recommendation to provide occupational fellowships of students with specialeducational needs and students with socio-economic disadvantage. The point is to strengthen theircompetitiveness. The completion of these partial steps results in the creation of a list of fields of studysuitable for candidates with special educational needs at the University of Ostrava, a report about thepossibilities of success of students with special educational needs at the labour market after they

111 Will be repeated in the following academic year.112 Will be repeated in the following academic year.




graduate from the chosen field of study and methodological recommendation for realisation offellowships of students with special educational needs at the University of Ostrava.

Table 3. Students’ occupational fellowships.

Students with special educationalneeds

(minimum of/participated so far)

Students with socio-economic disadvantage

(minimum of/participated so far)

5/1 5/2

The presence of no barriers in education is ensured by building modern easy-access elevator in thehistoric building of the university, by installing two platforms for wheelchairs and also by web interfacecalled Inclusive Environment, which aims to start and support communication of people at theuniversity. The staff (academic and other members) and students (intact, and with disability) at all thefaculties are motivated to actively communicate with each other about topics solving equal approach ineducation and various life situations connected with this problem.

Table 4. The number of registered users in the Inclusive Environment.

Inclusive environment (web interface) No. of registered users

Students with special educational needs 13

Intact students 746

University staff 43

Total 802113

The Inclusive Environment offers communicational panel “Ask us”, where students with specialeducational needs are logged in using their personal profiles. This enables an open communication withstudents who showed willingness to share their personal experience. The panel “Stories” contains fivesections (My Family; Something I Would Like to Tell Others; A Person With a Disability Can Study ata University; The Importance of Volunteering; My Experience with the Disabled), that offer categoriesof contributions of those students or university staff members who wanted to share their own orinterpreted life stories. Discussion panel contains altogether 5 topics focused on fighting prejudices andstereotypes, it also focuses on the problems of education of students with specific learning disability,equality in education, etc.

113 As at a date of August 18th, 2013.




5. CONCLUSIONWe face the problem of integrative and inclusive education of persons with health disability at alleducational levels. The academic community should observe current development and react adequately.We can expect a continuous increase in the amount of active students with specific educational needs(SEN). The University of Ostrava is on the way to equal approach – to creating inclusive environmentfor students with special educational needs. Thanks to the realisation of research and developmentalprojects it creates equality in the system of tertiary education. However, the necessary mechanism ofinclusion is the coordination of all the bodies taking part in both direct and indirect pedagogical activity,administrative agenda, related to the course of the studying of intact students as well as students withspecial educational needs. The necessary part is the still developing tool of the support of personal andprofessional competences of all the staff at the University of Ostrava in the approaches (attitudes) topeople with health disability (e.g. courses focused on assistance, adaptation of studying materials, signlanguage, etc.). At the same time it is necessary to create a system offer of the above-mentioned toolsfor all the students at the University of Ostrava. Even though the process of creating inclusive universityenvironment at the University of Ostrava has already started, the length of its track is not given as it isa continuous and complex activity aiming to change studying environment and conditions.

REFERENCESAKREDITAČNÍ KOMISE ČR. 2013. Mission Statement. Dostupné na www:http://www.akreditacnikomise.cz/cs/mission-statement-.htmlČESKO, 2009. Zákon č. 198/2009 Sb., o rovném zacházení a o právních prostředcích ochrany předdiskriminací a o změně některých zákonů. PrahaČESKÁ STATISTICKÝ ÚŘAD. 2010. Studenti a absolventi vysokých škol v roce 2010. Praha.Dostupné na www:http://www.czso.cz/csu/redakce.nsf/i/studenti_a_absolventi_vysokych_skol_v_cr_celkem/$File/1_VS_studenti_celkem_11.pdfEVROPSKÁ UNIE, 2007. Listina základních práv Evropské unie.Inkluzivní program. Dostupné na WWW: http://projekty.osu.cz/integrace/KALEJA, M., KOVÁŘOVÁ, R., ZEZULKOVÁ, E., FRANIOK, P. 2012. Podpora terciárníhovzdělávání studentů se specifickými vzdělávacími potřebami na Ostravské univerzitě v Ostravě. 1. vyd.Ostrava: PdF Ostravské univerzity v Ostravě, ISBN 978-80-7464-174-9MŠMT ČR. 2013. Přehled vysokých škol v ČR. Dostupné na www:http://www.msmt.cz/vzdelavani/vysoke-skolstvi/prehled-vysokych-skolOSTRAVSKÁ UNIVERZITA V OSTRAVĚ, 2010. Dlouhodobý záměr Ostravské univerzity v Ostravěna léta 2011- 2015. OstravaOSTRAVSKÁ UNIVERZITA V OSTRAVĚ. 2013. Výroční zpráva o činnosti 2012. Dostupné na www:http://rektorat.osu.cz/dokumenty/vz/zprava2012.pdfVLÁDA ČR. 2010. Národní akční plán inkluzívního vzdělávání. PrahaVLÁDA ČR. 2010. Národní plán vytváření rovných příležitostí pro osoby se zdravotním postižením naobdobí 2010-2014. PrahaZEZULKOVÁ, E. a kol. 2012. Metodika podpory a vyrovnávání podmínek při studiu. Ostrava: OU.




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419

Educational Alternatives, Volume 11, Part 2

Documents

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